Gubat Banwa First Edition 1.05 [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

1

Sri Paduka Batara, that ancient king, approached a gentle servant, cooking a meal for her master. “Great servant, hearken unto me. I have traveled the lengths of these Isles, ventured deep into the hells, and drank rice wine with the gods of the heavens. Yet I have not found Glory. I have suffered the most unimaginable of sufferings, yet I have not found peace." The gentle servant did not look up, so she did not know that it was a king that spoke to her. "Great speaker, I must tell you the truth. Glory is nothing but what is before you." She was missing a finger, yet the pot of soup she made was spiced beautifully. "Pray, illuminate me upon thine sutra." "Illumination blinds thee," replied the servant. "Glory is not illustrious, it is liberation." "Then how will I find liberation? Before I was a king I was a slave, and I suffered unimaginable torture. I turned the wheel of violence." "You will find liberation by shutting up and seeking it evermore." "What hope is there that I will be liberated?" "Hope is flimsy and fickle," was the retort. "Hope is fire: it burns out. It smokes. It hurts. Nay, instead wield conviction, that blade forged in fire and tempered by water." "So to find glory I must wield conviction? And then what?" "Glory is not just the sea at the end of the river, but also the river cutting through the earth." "So there is no reprieve from all this suffering?" "There is," said the servant, and gave the king a bowl of soup. The king took it. "I am at a loss," he said, and for the first time in a multiple reincarnations. "What are you saying? Can you say it simply?" "I already am. Ruminate upon the river. It flows in a single direction. If there be boulders, they flow around it. If there be earth, they chip at it until it becomes part of the river itself. Glory is an endlessly rushing river." "What if you cannot do it anymore? What if all the suffering has stopped you. Even a river can be dammed." "That is a lie constructed by mortal hands," replied the servant. "Rivers break through dams eventually. What do the rivers do to achieve this? They continue flowing, yet very slowly. Therefore take on step after the other, because only then can you be the river.” “Will there ever be an end?” “The river does not think in matters of beginnings and ends, because it is all at once the sea and the rain and the mountain and the dam. It flows. Step by step. Second by second. Pain by pain. Pleasure by pleasure. Sword by sword. "To the river, anything that gets in its path is something they inflict violence against, because what else is glory but a perpetually flowing river? To live is struggle. To struggle is violence. To live, therefore, is violence." "So to find glory I must live?" The servant shook her hand, turned, and took up the pot. "You do not find Glory. You live, fight, struggle, love, eat, suffer, enjoy, fall, and rise until Glory."

1st Edition (1.04)

A Note on Intended Audience

Writer and Developer: Joaquin Kyle “Makapatag” Saavedra (@makapatag) Art Director: Dylan Briones (@illsvillainy) Artists: Dylan Briones (@illsvillainy), Fae (@lntpblk), Noriz Mora (@Togidemi), Tamara Catada (@tanorochen), Xrystina Marcos (@SweetCyanid3), Ahron (@daffonahron), Gen (@Shaolinfan1), Luisa Odulio (@ghostprinceee), RM Banas (@rmbananas), Cams Cabezas (@tidalbronze), Trina Laya (@tumbke), Mar (@marmastry) Jul A. Refugia (@JuiceUrLemons) Kai (@ClickClacKAOS), Eli (@eleidescope), Raj (@rajavlitra), Cam Chua (@frillion) Kasuratan Font: R- (@kathanglangit) Gubat Banwa Soundtrack: ONEFLOOR (@hwareon) Playtesting: Sean Chingkaw, Kate, Noriz Mora, John Erwin Casia, Benedict Mangahas, Luisa Odulio, Aryelle Sison, RM, Lance, Jey, artspinapl, Dylan Briones, QK, Trina Other Credits: Shout out to all my Patreon patrons, without whom this never could have been easy (and maybe not possible)! Inspirational Credits to LANCER, Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition, Pathfinder 2nd Edition, Strike! RPG, Shadow of the Demon Lord, Apocalypse World, Broken World, Exalted, Sagas of the Icelanders, Dreams Askew, Blades in the Dark, Wanderhome, Ryuutama, Heart of Wulin, Tresspasser and ICON for inspiring mechanics and game feel. Copyright: GUBAT BANWA belongs to Joaquin Kyle Saavedra/Makapatag. You can use the stuff here to remix or make your own stuff and sell them. I encourage you to make settings, Disciplines, and more! However, I reserve the right to declare that something is not aligning with Gubat Banwa’s views and principles, and to reject anything that might want to use Gubat Banwa for bigoted means.

This game is written by me, a Filipino living in the Philippines, largely for other Filipinos and SEAsians as well. But it is written in English not only for it to be accessible to other Filipinos, but also to be able to reach a wider audience. Especially those that don’t know much about Southeast Asian cultures. Let’s get two very important things clear: this game centers us and this game’s setting is not Southeast Asia. This game is explicitly written with us in mind, us being Filipinos and other Southeast Asian people. Thus, it centers us. The “default” is a broad-nosed, five foot tall, genderless brown person. (Or better yet, remove the notion of a default.) It centers our experiences, our ideals. Our traditions, our weird cakes, our weird smells. It’s about us. If you go into this game expecting it to be about you then you will not get it. You are welcome to play our roles: that is what an RPG is, after all. But be respectful, because even we respect ourselves. Treat us like people. Secondly, this game is not Southeast Asia. It is not just Precolonial Philippines. It is its own fantasy setting. It is a Fantasy intensely inspired by the refulgent and diluvial cultures and stories of Southeast Asia. It is explictly a mythic reconstruction of a grand Southeast Asia of Hindu-Buddhist Empires, Islam Sultanates, and indigenous kingdoms and communities. A work of pure love for something that has been forced away from us. I am Pilipinhon, which means much of the writing is influenced by Philippines, but much of my research into Precolonial Philippines has been the joyful eradication of the “Filipino” identity to find a more whole and complete view of Southeast Asia, where our differences don’t divide us but unite, where the waters don’t separate but connect. With that said, I hope you will enjoy this deep dive and fantastical reconstruction of Southeast Asia, as one connected intrinsically to the rest of Asia, and as such, it becomes a deep dive into the interplay of human diversity, and a festival of human expression and nature. Gubat Banwa is about us. We revel in who we are. Everyone is welcome to the feast. - Waks

4

Until Glory My heart and soul have been burnt and tempered upon the crucible of this project, and I have said all I have ever wanted to say about this game within the game itself. This is a game of pure burning passion and love for the cultures, peoples, arts, and faiths that live and thrive in Southeast Asia, and a rejection of “default” fantasy. It is a gamified love letter to wuxia and hong kong martial arts films, to Southeast Asian epics (both lost and loved). It is fantasy on our terms.

‘Sai ayu dira? Dili siguro ka sabot ang uban ani, labi nalang ang katong uban na ubos ra kaayo ang pag tan’aw sa iyang mga silingan. Lisud g’yud , labi na kabahin aning ‘Fantasy’ nga ga basi sa atong mga gipangagi. Pero sige lang, ingon diay akong anhing papa sauna na ‘dasig lang jud dong’, wala jud nako na kalimti. Para ni nato tanan, among gipangtrabaho na Fantasy sa atong kaugalingong paglantaw. There is no reckoning with such things like heritage,history and culture without pain. Colonization is violence after all, apocalypse, erasure and trauma. It is pain that echoes and ripples across history, down the generations. To deny this pain, these tensions, would be further reduction of our histories, our cultures, our heritages. I refer to these things as plurals because that is the truth, to do otherwise is reduction, the same kind the colonizers have done to us. They have already done enough.

It is a work that exalts Southeast Asia, remembers lost lore, and seeks deeper into the past and the cultures that have been forced from us due to colonization. I started on this project with an ambitious objective, and I think I’ve been able to live up to it. Not because this Core Rulebook is everything I wanted to put in here (it’s not!) but because this is the start of the greater project that is Gubat Banwa. An important thing to note is that I (and this book) is not a final word on anything. I am a Filipino writing something I wish was more well known in the Philippines, and I am a single person. No matter how much research I have done, it will never be enough. Therefore, do not use this book as a guide or anything. Use it as it is: a game made by Filipinos to express their cultures and for others to revel with them.

Violence is varied, abstract and painful. Dying languages, regional tensions, erasure, issues of representation. We can pretend none of these exist, we can pretend ‘Filipino’ is not fraught with baggage and trauma in the oft forgotten regions of the isles and in quiet rooms in the capitol. But some of us non-default Filipinos do not have this luxury. I never tire of correcting people who wonder why our game is called ‘Jungle Place’, maybe it doesn't mean that, perhaps there are other languages in the Philippines no?

Finally, please note that this is a Core Rulebook without much financial backing. I juggled paying for this game’s art with personal expenses, rent, buying for research, etc. This is not the book that will be printed: there will be a more definitive version of that soon (hopefully) with the help of crowdfunding. I have not been able to afford an editor for this yet, so expect inconsistencies, typos, and errors. As well as eventual updates due to these typos as well as appropriate balancing and wording clarifications. But for now, this game is more than enough to revel in Gubat Banwa.

This game is a labor of love, a challenge, an undertaking. This is fantasy on our own terms, a love letter to the forgotten heroes of the isles, our understated diversity, a spear thrown at this idea of a homogeneous ‘Filipino culture’, and an empty hand reaching for our shared history among our neighbors in SEA. We are taught to view ourselves in the lens of those who we used to bow to. If we could see ourselves on our own terms, tensions, shortcomings, serenity and violence all, what stories would we tell? What dreams would we dream together?

The warring nations are beckoning. Gubat Banwa is not yet done. We need you to complete it with us. Love and Violence to all. Until Glory, Kadungganan.

Dyl

Waks A Note On Due Diligence A few notes on due diligence.

Before anything else, the Kalis or Kris that we used in our logo is based on the blade iconic to the struggles of our neighbors in Bangsamoro. Our use of it is deliberate, as tribute and homage. The choice to have it as a logo is mainly to evoke the isles connection with the rest of SouthEast Asia. We do not use it lightly, and thus strive to portray such things in an appropriate context. It’s a battle-sword after all, not a cane, nor an implement. Such origins must be acknowledged, else we risk continuing colonial mentalities. Likewise, the inclusion of a faction inspired by our first peoples is important but we should always remember that these are fantasy portrayals. We are in no way presenting a historically accurate representation of them. The Confederation of Apumbukid is inspired by these enduring cultures, but it is important to draw the line. We are not meant to tell their stories, only they can do that. However a fantasy inspired by the diversity of Philippine cultures in relation to SEA simply cannot happen without a nod to the many many indigenous peoples that persist and thrive to this day. For those who come from those cultures, we strive to build a space where they can play out fantasy on their own terms in a TTRPG. A large percentage of the development and playtest team have deep roots in the regions, me included. A lot of us know what it's like to see our cultures flattened under the brush of homogenization, to have our struggles regarding our cultures and identities denied and consistently gaslit. In the process of building this game, we found in each other a common struggle to exist, to build a fantasy that was ours, and to share it with the world. We owe it due diligence, to keep context in mind while building a shared fantasy. The work is never done, and we still have a long way to go but unlearning is just as important as learning, and there is no true reckoning with such things as heritage and culture without pain. Dasig lang gihapon. - Dyl

5

Table of Contents Table of Contents

7

The Wandering Sheathe

8

Touchstones

II: PLAY

33

The Himulawan Rule

35

The Pilak Rule

35

11

The Tumbaga Rule

35

Non-Fiction

11

The Vajra Rule

35

Fiction

11

The Puthaw Rule

35

Movies and Series

11

Modes of Play

37

Video Games

11

What You’ll Need

37

Solo Play

38

War Drama

42

Moons

44

Honor

45

Downtime

48

Optional Rule: No Tactical Violence

53

I: An Introduction

14

The Realms of Battle

15

The Rise of Datu

15

The Lunar Advent

16

Issohappa Invades

16

Eclipse Age

17

Festival of the Longest Night

18

Poems of the Past The Violences

20 22

Time Keeping

23

What is Gubat Banwa?

24

Where is Gubat Banwa? A Note on Trichiliocosms

The Five Major Mandalas

55

The Rhythm

57

The Violence Cast

58

Violent Glossolalia

59

Status Effects

60

Hit Points, Death, and Dying

61

The Battlefield

68

Scenarios

74

Enemies

76

Enemy Origins

94

21

Philosophies

What Kind Of Stories Can We Tell?

III: Violence

24

25 25

26

The Rajahnate of Gatusan

27

The Confederation of Apumbukid

28

The Sultanate of Akai

29

The Lakanate of Virbanwa

30

The Kingdom of Ba-e

31

6

IV: KADUNGGANAN

136

Kadungganan Creation

140

Alignments

141

Folk

142

Cultures

148

Gatusan

148

Apumbukid

154

Akai

160

VIRBANWA

166

Ba-e

172

Conjunctures

178

Debt

VII: Lore

354

Barter Items

356

180

A Collection of Writings and Silks of the Lotus

358

Complications

181

Life In Settlements

374

Convictions

183

Faith and Religion in the Sword Isles

380

Warbands

186

Kadungganan Advancement: Legend

192

Disciplines

VIII: Running The Game

194

Discipline Traits

194

Techniques

194

Discipline Styles

195

Choosing a Discipline

196

Anting-Anting

312

V: Divinations

318

Types of Divinations

319

VI: The Sword Isles

341

North Rusunuga

343

South Rusunuga

344

Footsteps of the Gods

345

Isles of Rajakami

346

Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows

347

The Graveyard of the Winds

348

Tauhaw

349

Barrier of Panlinugon

350

The Pannai League

351

Khadnala Sword Shards

352

Umalagad Basics

384

Running The Game

386

Encounters

389

IX: The Sword Devil

7

383

390

Notes For The Umalagad

391

Factions and Folk

392

The Forest

394

Forest Path Map

395

The Wandering Sheathe

A woman walked into a small village, with nothing but the clothes on her back—long silk robes over a textile tube skirt and wooden sandals—and an empty dragon-mouthed sheath. A servant man, an oripun, sprawled to his knees before her, hands scrabbling for purchase on the muddy riverbanks. A warrior, loyal to this settlement, walked into view, out of the reeds. He aimed his luthang, arquebus, at the servant. “Laki! Forgive me! I meant no harm! I was simply looking for food!” The servant groveled, hands rising now to cover his head. “Silence,” snarled the man. “You dare look at my wife? Burn in Sulad!” “Laki!” But he heard no more, as the luthang’s cacophony ripped through the air. Herons flew overhead. The manggugubat pushed the oripun’s body into the river, where nature will reclaim what is theirs. Without a proper burial, however, the oripun will surely toil in Sulad for eternity, or be eaten by Siginiguran. The woman waited for the scuffle to be over. When the man turned around and walked back into the reeds, and presumably back to his balay, the woman continued walking on, deeper into the village.

The village was deserted. No, it seemed deserted. As she walked on ahead, a pack of dogs ravaged a corpse lying on the street. The wind howled. The sun was still low. A man opened his doors. “Psst!” He called on the woman. The woman turned to him, eyes narrowed. “Don’t stay out there! You’ll get killed!” The woman looked about her, and in the distance saw a small band of warriors, led by a man upon a crocodile. She nodded and walked over and into the balay. “What do you think you’re doing, staying outside like that?” The man closed the door behind her. He offered for her to wash her feet, and she did so. She removed the poor abaca slippers she had on. “What’s happened to the village?” “Oh don’t worry about that. Here, sit. Have you eaten?” The man seems to be another oripun. His shoulder-length hair was tied up into a severe bun, and he wore nothing but a simple cloth over his shoulders like a cloak, and a piece of cloth tied around his waist like a sarong. “No.” “Here, I have some taro I left in stock. I don’t have any fish or meat however.”

“It’s all right. I am eternally grateful for you sharing your food.” “Ah, you probably haven’t eaten in a long while. Don’t worry about it! Unfortunately, I don’t have any betel nut chew quids right now, so please don’t take that as a hint of non-hospitality.” The woman shook her head. “Do not worry overmuch about it. I will be fine.” She looked out of the window, discreetly, as that small band of warriors walked through the town. Kicking rocks and extorting whatever food or other tax they could get from the residents living in. “What has happened to this place, this town, this banwa?” “Ah, I must apologize again to the Bayi. You’ve found us at a most inopportune time. A Lakanate raiding party has arrived this morning. We’re staying inside until they finish what they have to do.” The Ba-e turned to look at the man as he boiled some taro. “Why? You do not flee inland?” He shook his head. “Their warlord promised that we would be slain if we did. They brought with them Makagagahum Miracles. They summoned fire from their palms. Our guns could do nothing, and we do not have enough witches to fight back.” The woman watched as the men passed by. “Where is your Lord?” “Locked up in his balay. They talk with him, saying that they’re there to ‘negotiate’.” “Why not just take debtors and be done with it?” asked the woman. She gripped her dragon-mouthed sheathe. “Oh, you. Of course you know that the Lakanate does not deal like the rest of the polities in the known isles. They’re here to expand their power by conquering land and territories, instead of establishing relationships.” He shrugged as he turned the taro in the pot. “It’s something we never thought we’d have to suffer, as we’re just a small settlement, and our Lord’s wife is the sister of a Lord under Rajah Batara AmbasiÖ but I suppose in their conquest they will not settle until every rock is under their jurisdiction. Come, eat.” She nodded. She left the window and ate. “I’m Ilu, by the way. What’s your name, Ba-e?” “Odyong Pitara,” she replied, as she took a bit of the taro. *** When they finished their meal, there was a knock on Ilu’s door. Ilu froze. He slowly rose to his feet and walked over to it. He opened, it just a small bit, and asked: “Who is it--” “Don’t go hiding her in here old man!” And the man kicked the door in, sending Ilu flying backwards. Odyong Pitara reached around and nonchalantly caught him, placing him safely to his side.

Odyong realized that the small band of warriors have arrived at their doorstop. Only three of them seemed to be wellarmored: wearing baluti and bringing with them kalasag. Upon their feet they wore paruka, and had bamboo shinguards. Their bahag were cloth and had long flowing flaps, and they wore patadyong, or a kind of sarong, over it. The one that kicked the man in, bringing with him a rusting kris, walked in, without removing his footwear. He squatted down beside Odyong, smiling. His moustache was long, and his pudong was large, almost like a turban, and excessively decorated. He smelled Odyong’s hair, which flowed long, braided with flowers and thorns. “AhÖ what a catch.” Odyong sighed. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret, Laki.” The man paused. His eyes widened. He turned to his lackeys and shouted, “Did you hear this bitch? Ha! Jusko, and I thought I was funny!” He turned and snarled into her ear, “If you don’t want to fucking die, you’re going to do what I want you to.” His saliva was infused with the stench of midday alcohol. “Duck,” replied Odyong. The man’s face contorted into confusion. “What--” Odyong’s dragon-mouthed sheath clubbed his face, stunning him, then she struck thrice: chest, groin, then face. Like lightning. The man fell backwards, knocked out. Odyong reached over and picked up the kris, sheathing it into her sheathe. It fit perfectly. “Thanks,” she replied, rising. “Ilu, I would apologize in advance for what they’re about to do to your house.” “What?” “Ha! The bitch bites! Get ‘em, boys. Tell ‘er what happens to the dog when they anger the crocodile.” A melee ensued: two armored warriors and almost ten horohan, or warrior debtors, against Odyong and her sheathe plus sword.

half wished they were. As those incapacitated groaned in pain, Odyong sheathed her blade and sighed. “Again, apologies, Ilu.” Ilu watched her, his eyes wide with a mix of fear and awe. “I’ll make it up to you,” said Odyong, as she walked over to the door. “I’ll get rid of the Virbanwans.” *** That night, after an extended detour through the docks and killing more warriors there, Odyong made her way up to the balay of the Lord. It wasn’t hard to find. It was smack dab in the middle of the town, in front of the weapon’s storehouse, which meant that they probably had some sort of fighting chance. Just that they weren’t successful. Odyong walked over to the balay and was immediately greeted by two warrior men, both wielding spears. They wore a carabao horn cuirass over silken shirts and pants, and peaked helmets. “I’m looking for the Lord of this village.” The two kawal, or guardsmen, simply looked at each other, eyebrows furrowed. With a shake of their heads, they turned and tried to shove Odyong away. Odyong caught one of their hands and promptly broke it, then used the other hand that held a spear to skewer the other man’s throat. Odyong then knocked the kawal out and broke his nose with his own spear. Inside the Lord’s balay, a man sits on the bamboo throne of the old Lord. The Lord himself lay to the side, skull blossomed into fragments upon the wall. The man sitting upon the bamboo throne was a man with a peaked helmet, full armor covering him in abaca and carabao horn from shoulders to ankles, and wearing wooden sandals. He sat nonchalantly, with one knee up. He held his luthang up, butt on the ground, barrel pointing at the door. His legions rose, brandished their weapons.

Odyong summarily dispatched of them without much trouble. She didn’t need to advance: they attacked her for her. She countered, wove, struck.

“Ease, ease,” said the Virbanwan commander, raising his hand. The legions lowered their weapons: spears, swords, mostly. The occasional bow.

She disarmed a dagger that flew and punctured the eye of another. She parried one attack, hit another warrior thrice with the sheathe, and then leapt off of that man to impale the one she parried with the kris. One of them she threw over and out of the window. She sidestepped a charging attack of another to send him flying directly into the fire of the kitchen, slapping him on the back with her sheathe.

The commander rose, pushing a crying woman from his side, who wore a golden diadem. No doubt the wife of the now late Lord.

This dance of swords and sheaths happened in the length it would take one to blink an eye. At the end of it all, half were dead, and

“So, you’re the one that has been tearing up this little village,” he grinned, revealing his perfectly white teeth. The teeth of animals. “Ha. Your humor does not amuse me.” “I’m not trying to make you laugh, pretty. Now, come, then. What is it you want? Power? Position? Wealth? You want to become a Lord? I have power in Virbanwa. I’m Senapati Kampiyador,

Third Warlord of Batara Lakan Huwan Rekno, long may he live.” “I want you to leave this village.” “Ha!” The senapati’s grin faded. “You’re not as funny as I thought.” He rose, his shadow looming. He raised his sabre and said: “Get out.” The legions readied their weapons. Odyong frowned. She watched the legions. The Senapati took a few steps forward. “All right, now you really don’t amuse me. I said, get out.” He raised his hand and outstretched his fingers against Odyong. An invisible hammer slammed into her, into the door frame, sending splinters in every direction. Odyong flew, backwards and out, landing upon dirt and stone, rolling into the bushes. The legion leapt out, then, screaming war cries, firing arrows, rushing with swords and spears at the ready. Odyong had no choice but to flee. She leapt over to a lost hole in the ground, near the hinterlands where the swiddens became the wilds, and hid there until the legions slowed their search. It took them the whole night. Odyong fell asleep within her hiding grove. *** Upon a cliff, whereupon the Pak-an Galura village overlooks vast mountains of the Masanun Island Chain, an elder man with hair like wisps of clouds countered the attack of a young Odyong, wearing a lambong and tubatub. “Guro!” She snarled as she pushed herself off of the ground. Her guro stared off over to the rolling mountains. They trained at the edge of a cliff, where the wrong step could spell certain doom. “I cannot get past your defense.” She rushed forward again, exploding with a flurry of blows, but her Guro blocked them all in a furious exchange of strikes and parries. At the end, he locked her striking arms, and then pushed her away. She fell backwards. “Guro!” Her frustration dripped from her words. “I have been training for most of my life. Getting past you is impossible!” “Nonsense, young one,” replied the Guro, stretching his limbs. “Nothing is impossible, not one.” Odyong rose to her feet, dusting off the dust from her malong. “I’m tired. Lets go home.” “Not until you can get past me. Tomorrow is your final trial, remember?” Odyong let out a slow, dangerous breath. “How can I do that? I’ve done all the techniques I know. I cannot get past your defenses.” “Then it is time for your final lesson, little frog. If something before you seems insurmountable,” he raised his hands in a ready stance. “Then do not depend on ‘I’. That is the great lie. What is

insurmountable can be shattered with the power of ‘we’.” *** The next morning, Odyong arrived at the shore of the village to the sound of a bodyong being sounded. The sound echoed across the entire island. Odyong leapt out of the foliage and met the incoming Biray. “What took you all so long, mga buang?” Odyong said, a small smile breaking out from her stoic face. Upon the prow of the ship, four warriors met her. One sat on the side: a beautiful, rose-eyed man wielding a long kudyapi, wearing no armor but a colorful and golden-tasselled saob-saob only worn by royalty. Another sat by the outrigger, a young boy with a bow longer than him. Another sat behind the prow, a large woman with a large iron gut. She’s the one blowing the bodyong. Her sundang glinted in the rising sunlight. The last one was a man with an almost flamboyant baro and sarong get up, whereupon he wore plumage upon his pudong. Using sorcerous wind, he leapt from the ship’s prow and landed upon the shore. “Ah, have patience with us, Odyong,” said the man, grinning. His gold-pegged teeth made it look like his mouth was made of sunshine. “Kara-Kara over there couldn’t help but stop by a nearby settlement to have a chance at their shrimp dishes.” Kara-Kara, the boy with the sikarom, leapt off from the outriggers and onto the shore. “They had buttered hipon, how could I say no! Bangol, come on, you’re with me on this, right?” Bangol, the iron-gut warlord, leapt down from the biray and onto the shore. “Ah, don’t bring me into this. I have nothing to do with that,” she said, grinning. “Not anymore, when you finished them all,” said the rose-eyed kudyapi player, as he leapt down from the side of the biray and onto the shore. He wore a malong, as any woman would. “Come on I thought you were on my side Dagna!” Bangol whined, pertaining to the kudyapi player. Dagna shrugged. Odyong couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “Tandayag,” spoke Odyong, referring to the man with plumage upon his pudong. “Thank the spirits that you got the message quickly.” “Of course,” said Tandayag, smiling. “It is destiny. And liberating villages is part and parcel for the Wandering Sword Souls. And it looks like the fight has come to us! Grand. We don’t have to waste time looking for them.” Odyong nodded. She unsheathed her kris, then, and turned to face the village. The legion faced them. It was an entire army, rows and rows of spear and swords,

the occasional gun and bow. Off to the sides, standing upon balay roofs, war drummers wrapped in drab sack cloths banged upon agung. Despite being of Virbanwa, their war tactics and traditions still echoed that of their roots. The warriors wanted nothing but to fulfill their debt to their masters, while those in the ranks that were wrapped in armor and wielding shields and ceremonial blades no doubt wanted glory. Those richer warriors, wrapped in decorative jewelry, painted armors, wearing pants and sarongs and pudongs bespeckled with carnelians and ivories, looked almost bored--some even apalled or disgusted--that their entire army had been amassed to face this small contingent of five warriors. Five Kadungganan. Five Kadungganan. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed. Yet the banging of agung was louder still. The cacophony of war. Far behind them, standing atop the Lord’s balay, Senapati Kampiyador raised an excessively bangled hand, glinting like the sun’s rays. His right hand man, dripping with jewelry, blew the bodyong, and its sound ripped heaven. At that sound, the servant that paddled the biray that the rest of the Wandering Sword Souls arrived upon paddled away, as fast as they could. Just as well, thought Odyong to herself. She straightened herself, readying her blade and her sheath, her saob-saob flapping in the cold morning wind. There, five souls stood upon the shore, bodies hardened after a lifetime’s worth of martial training, hands quicker after three. Weapons at the ready, sorceries prepared. The legions of the senapati advanced. The Wandering Sword Souls strode forward to meet them.

Touchstones gubat banwa is inspired by a large slew of media and real life folklore. its foundation is filipino martial arts and southeast asian mythology. however it very equally draws from video games, other literature, and movies.

Non-Fiction

Movies and Series

0 Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture and Society by William Henry Scott. One of the easiest to consume and most complete picture of 16th Century Prehispanic Philippines. Bar none, if you want to get into Pre Colonial Philippines, Barangay is one of the best starting points. 0 History of the Bisayan People in the Philippine Islands/Historia de las islas e indios de Bisayas of Franscisco Ignacio Alcina. An integral deep dive into late 15th - early 16th century Visayas, where the locals still remember their old ways and practice them, with Alcina recording all of it down. Here you see shamans climbing trees to be possessed by gods, details about shipbuilding, the blossoming of flowers that detailed their seasons, how they wove, and their numerous gods and spiritualities. 0 Philippine Folk Literature Series by Damiana Eugenio. Integral to deep diving into Filipino Culture, and a great resource for fantastical adventures. 0 Raiding, Trading, and Feasting: The Political Economy of Philippine Chiefdoms by Laura Lee Junker. Important to grokking how prehispanic Philippines worked and how increasing violence led to further trade and intensified war. 0 Ancient Southeast Asia by Geok Yian Goh and John N. Miksic connects Philippines back to Southeast Asia. The borderless look into Classic Southeast Asia inspired Gubat Banwa’s final form: as a mythic Southeast Asia of mixed religions and cultures.

0 Amaya from GMA. Unfortunately currently only in Tagalog, this series is a glimpse into 16th Century Philippines with a costume design to match. It’s great, although suffers from all the trappings of being a Philippine telenovela. 0 Princess Mononoke by Studio Ghibli. One of the easiest touchstones to understand how diwata and yawa are like. The seminal Spirited Away is also perfect for trying to visualize weirder diwata, or perhaps ninuno ancestor spirits. 0 Hero. One of the seminal wuxia films, where fights are the narrative. Influences much of Gubat Banwa’s combat mechanics and dramatics. It’s high-flying kung fu is a great visual inspiration to ground fiction on. 0 The Raid. An Indonesian martial arts film that showcases brutal kinetic fights, usage of the environment to survive large swathes of enemies, and a plot that feels like a constant moon that the hero Rama must survive against to return home to his family, the Raid is a perfect example of Gubat Banwa’s violence. 0 RWBY by Monty Oum. I first became enamored with the idea of team-based, role-focused tactical combat after watching Team RWBY fight that Nevermore in Season 1. While Gubat Banwa doesn’t exactly emulate RWBY’s highflying combat scenes, it does aim for that ballistic back and forth, that multi-hit combos, that setting up environmental pieces for slick combat maneuvers, and the philosophy of “No movement wasted”. Every move flows to the next. This informs Discipline design, combat feel goals, and role design.

Fiction 0 Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi. This novel focuses on the relations of men with nature, and is an integral part to viewing how nature gods might be viewed in the setting, as well as the political upheavals from messing with nature. 0 Malazan: Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson. An epic fantasy novel series that focuses on the tragedies of war, the military, and the sins of the past, complete with shapeshifting dragon gods and skeleton fantasy neanderthals. The themes of Malazan greatly inspired Gubat Banwa’s exploration into culture, violence and evil. 0 Legend of Condor Heroes by Jin Yong. Jin Yong’s genre defining wuxia work is a huge inspiration to Gubat Banwa’s fiction: to descriptions of combat, to violence, to spirituality. 0 Shri-Bishaya and Margosatubig by Ramon Muzones. Once serialized in Hiligaynon, English translations now abound. Great way to look at precolonial Philippine fantasy and with all the mystic fantasy that entails. Muzones mixes this with myth and folklore and traditions of the Hiligaynon people Balu are inspired from Margosatubig! 0 Tigana, Under Heaven and Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. Great and absolutely poetic Fantasy novels both based on different time periods (Renaissance Italy, Song China, and Moorish Spain respectively) that manage to create a beautiful and intricate fantasy setting from the flesh of historical periods. Filled with equal parts action, drama, tragedy, and touching themes, these are great novels to get in the mood of Gubat Banwa’s brand of historical-esque fantasy and tragic drama.

Video Games 0 Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together and Final Fantasy Tactics. Both games helmed by the seminal Yasumi Matsuno, these intricate war narratives blend together fantasy with hard hitting political narratives. Gritty without being grimdark, and mixed in with a good sense of adventure and action. The most important things you can get from these games are the politically focused narratives (which make for great war drama) and the encounter design. Maps are not huge, and they are vertically diverse, which is what you want to make combat not boring and dynamic. 0 Samurai Warriors, Dynasty Warriors, and Sengoku Basara. Less so on the one vs. 1000 gameplay and more on the high fantasy, stylish action take on historical periods and the focus on the different warriors, pitting them against each other. This series made me wonder what a Warriors game based on our own ancient heroes and warriors would look like, and helped me fantasize or make easier for consumption the many details of Precolonial Philippines.

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The Sword Isles The Isles of Ritual and Violence Thousand Thousand King Archipelago The Region Impaled by God The Heart of the Trichiliocosm

The Sword Isles. The Pearl of the World, from where the lotus blossoms, where the Thunderbolt strikes. The isles where every region of the Warring Realm struggle over dominion and conquest. Every culture can be found here, the center of the Nirvana Route, the great sea-based marketplace that connects everything in the world together. It bleeds. It is the end of the Eclipse Era, a period of great change and upheaval. The Sultanate of Akai has begun its Divine Striving: it has the strength, of course. And thus it begins a conquest to spread its power, to strengthen its mercantile reach. The Lakanate of Virbanwa has begun its Ashen Colonization, to conquer others and bring them under a single culture and religion. The Rajahnate of Gatusan revels in bloodshed, and interpolity war escalates as a new God-King must be declared. The Kingdom of Ba-e rallies under a single Woman Chakravarti. Their own great Avalokitesvara. They must spread the righteousness of Ba-e to the world, to save it from the toils of samsara. The Confederation of Apumbukid is pushed to violence, traveling across the world to rid it of rising demon hordes as more people are killed indiscriminately and their souls become demons. All of these are about to clash against each other in a great violence. The Eighth Star Era, otherwise known as the Festival of the Longest Night. Find Glory Beyond Heaven.

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Dagat Habagat Pasina | Eastwind Sea to Foreigners

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The 8 Direction Winds

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INTRODUCTION

I: An Introduction 14 14

INTRODUCTION

The Realms of Battle You can scarcely imagine it. A Sky of a Thousand Thousand Worlds. Let us not speak of beginnings: that is a question whereupon no answer resides. A Wheel hath no beginning: it only turns, constantly broken and then remade, by different gods and bodhisattvas. To transcend it is to find Glory. The grand Warring Realm, that is, Gubat Banwa in local tongues, has undergone innumerable eras and periods. People and cultures have been created and destroyed in an endless cycle of creation and destruction. There is no end. This is the Paradox of Multiplicity: only in the acceptance of the many, the absurd, the uncountable, can one find true tranquility. Let us therefore sight along the lines, that single and continuously slicing action, the great spear that has been thrust by our ancestors and their ancestors. Let us sight down history through the eyes of Violence, which is markedly differently from Killing and Murder. Take note of the difference. The Spear pierces through. In the distant past, before rulers, before gods, there were communities and families that worked together to help each other. This era ended eventually when Folk invented ownership, and then invented weapons to enforce that ownership. This was the eventual downfall of the Sixth Cycle, with the 6th Tuig Bituon being brought to an end only by the First Rajah, who managed to bring all into Concordance. A huge feat.

The First Rajah, Rajaraya Pintas, brought Gubat Banwa into the 7th Tuig Adlaw, and it was the greatest of all the Tuig Adlaw. 50,000 Years of progress, of passion, of power, of enlightenment, most of those in Concordance practiced the Teachings of Wajrasatta the Thundering Makinaadmanon, who arose during the wars of the 6th Era after experiencing Suffering all his life. This Sage of Sages adopted the Teachings of Ashinin, the Thousand Thousand God Faith of the Far Eastern Raya Confederation, and the Teachings of Annuvaran, the Tranquil Faith of the Far Southern Raya Confederation, and infused it with indigenous folklore, spreading far and wide tenets that would eventually become Anitu, the belief in the consciousness of every thing, working in concert in accordance with The Hiyang, commonly translated as The Concordant, The Harmonious, or The Agreeableness, a metaphysical concept of pure harmony with nature. The 7th Tuig Adlaw ended gradually and completely due to infighting, not to mention the ire of the gods, as Rajaraya Pintas and other such God-Kings would challenge the very Sky and Sea themselves, leading to many land formations in Gubat Banwa today, such as the Footsteps of the Gods and Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows. The golden age is a myth. What followed was the 7th Tuig Bulan, the Moon Era, and it presented the greatest change. More importantly, it began with Rajaraya Pintas being violently overthrown from his throne, and his world-empire of Samrat cast into the depths of the Jade Sea, never to arise. Rajaraya Pintas was overthrown by the same violence he instigated. He never found Glory in the same way Himayanon Nawara, the great Sage of Violence, did. Thus is how the spear continues to pierce.

The Rise of Datu

The 7th Tuig Bulan marked the rise of Datu in the Sword Isles. Datu was the local term that meant “chief”, “ruler”, or “superior”. It did not mean “King”: the people of Gubat Banwa were too fresh from an overlord to make that mistake again. However, where there is power, there are the power-hungry, and soon they would abuse the position of the Datu to taste the same kind of power Rajaraya Pintas once held.

A thousand years pass, and a thousand settlements, empires, kingdoms, rise and fall. This was a time of incessant war and never-ending violence. The 7th Tuig Bituon, or the 7th Star Era, was also known as The Sidereal Wars, for there were many and many, so many that they were impossible to be written down, and they now only live as songs and traditions. Paper can be burned but the people must live and learn.

The various cultures, states, and societies that arose in the 7th Moon Era all hearken back to the 7th Sun Era, with royalties and tripartite social orders built upon the shape of Rajaraya Pintas’ grand society. This is, of course, built to fail. This did not stop them, however.

The rise of rulers brought nothing but war and killing. So many people brought away by the tides of time. We have brought this upon ourselves. A cruel ruler leads to cruel people. If there must be a leader, then it must be a master chosen by servants.

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INTRODUCTION

The Lunar Advent One of the most powerful faiths that managed to survive The Sidereal Wars was the Lunar Faith, or Bulanism, named after the Moon.

There she began her Holy Quest, to spread the truth of Baginda Sumongsuklay far and wide. Her faith was widely accepted.

This religion believed in the sovereignty of the Moon, for there lived Baginda Sumongsuklay, the grand Lunar Goddess who cleaved away the darkness to bring about the world, as said by their sacred texts. The First Prophet of Baginda Sumongsuklay herself was said to have fallen from a comet sent from the moon, and traveled from a jar and arrived upon Jamiyun Kulisa’s arrows.

The Lunar Faith brought a certain stability to a broken world, but it also brought with it the strength of zeal. Warriors collaborated together under the banner of a single faith, and waged war against others.

Issohappa Invades Around the same time the Lunar Faith arrived in Gubat Banwa, so did the Issohappa, to the Far West, become colonized by a parasitic, vampiric folk of fey-demons known as the Pale Kings, Bleeders of the Fivefold Universe, Conquerers of Royalty, ancient and towering alien beings with pallid and dead alabaster skin, leonine claws, and crimson eyes. When they died, they burst into pools of slow flowing blood. Upon flying frigates, goblin-slave-manned galleons, and great lion-ships, arrived the Empire of Issohappa upon The Sword Isles, and plunged the Gubat Banwa ever deeper into darkness. This was the darkest era of the 7th Tuig-Bulan, for the Pale Conquest succeeded, and they claimed the island of Rusunuga under their empire. Issohappa turned the exalted ancient state of Tundun, the City of Warlords and Sages, Third Heir to the Raya Confederation, and turned it into the grand Imperial City State of Virbanwa. The Crown City, loyal to the Crown of Issohappa. It was forever different: folk were enslaved, given the Red Eyes of Slaves when the Pale King Aristocrats Enthralled them. They brought in their construction methods, their stone bricks, their silvers and sweet potatoes from the Near-Western Continent across the Eastern Vastness. They introduced carriages and plows, just so that the slaves can use them to create vast farmfields to fuel the Imperial Economy.

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The Pale Kings were not adept at governing faraway kingdoms, and thus they left most of the governing to the Mendicants. Pale King friars and priests who spread the glorious word of the Almighty, Lion of Lions, Lily of the Valley. They preached the Almighty Commission, the Penitence for the death of the Son, the Everlasting Love of God, the Burning Bloody Daystar. But the spirit of justice and violence broiled in the Lakan of Tundun. They rallied their revolutionary force, with vast amounts of reinforcements from surrounding polities: from Sonyoh, Gatusan, Ba-e, Apumbukid, Akai, Iyamat, Malirawat, and even Baik Hu, and managed to siege the Cathedral of the Sidereal Spoke in the middle of the city of Ananara, Virbanwa’s inner city. There they killed El Kampiyador, the Governor-General, and overthrew them. The old rulers of Rusunuga banded together and pulled allegiances from across Gubat Banwa to band together and repel the invaders. This was the only time the disparate and warring settlements have ever fought together in complete concert. inst others.

INTRODUCTION

Eclipse Age There was no 8th Tuig Adlaw nor 8th Tuig Bulan. Instead those were replaced with the Tuig Bakunawa, the Eclipse Era, the only Eclipse Era in the aeons that have spanned Gubat Banwa. It was an Eclipse because no true enlightenment and peace was achieved. Virbanwa liberated itself but fell into the trap of emulating their colonial masters, becoming nothing but a semifeudal, semi-colonial shadow of its former glory. During the Tuig Bakunawa, the five major mandalas rose to power and became the most well known of the cultures across The Sword Isles. The Rajahnate of Gatusan, established during the 7th Tuig Bituon by Sri Maharaja Bishaya. The Sultanate of Akai, established by Sultan Jaris Akai, who arrived upon a bejewelled jar. The Confederation of Apumbukid, a loose connection of settlements across the archipelago that fight to protect Hiyang. The Kingdom of Ba-e which holds to its old power and to the broken memories of an ancient state. And finally The Lakanate of Virbanwa, a victim of its invaders, now a burgeoning empire hellbent on unifying the Sword Isles under the Ashen Star. At the end of the Eclipse Era, the world is plunging into the greatest war Gubat Banwa shall ever see. A strife that will last for a thousand thousand years, across various realms and dimensions of existence. There will be a great gnashing of teeth, and swords shall cut until nothing is left. There will be no 8th Tuig Bituon. It shall be with the final Era of Gubat Banwa: The Festival of the Longest Night.

17

INTRODUCTION

Festival of the Longest Night This is the Song of Rage, sung by Himayanon Suga Nalamdagan.

1 - Find Harmony. 2 - Sunder the world with your sins. Rejoice in the glory of combat. The darkness chokes the stars. The world shall end after Eight Cycles. 3 - The final number, perfection of divinity. Two squares interpolated, 8 triangles within. 4 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1, perfection of glory, of royalty, achieving harmony with Diwa, the essential flow of reality. There is no escape from the ancient of days, as the cause-effect crumbles in on itself, and love becomes evisceration becomes love. 4 - We shall be divided infinitely, to the point where we are one. What shall come after? A new world, a different one. Will it be better? That is up for us to decide. Evermore we’ve held the destiny of the world in our hands. Now it is time to accept responsibility. 5 - Shirk power, for what is power but irresponsibility? Use pride, for what is pride but a ladder? Craft swords, for what are swords but crude manifestation of truth? 6 - Therefore, listen to my plea. The center of the world is the Sword Isles, and that is where the final battles shall take place. From every region of Gubat Banwa, warriors shall arrive. They will revel, in this Festival of the Longest Night. 7 - Damn my eyes, they fail me now. Sight without seeing. But sight is not something I need, when darkness chokes the stars. 8 - How will one save this world? Or how will one change this? It is up to you. Is it worth saving, or should one create a better one from its wretched ashes? How will one change the world? 9 - The Answer is thusly. 10 - Take The Thunderbolt. 11 - Only Violence Can save this world. 12 - Find Glory Beyond Heaven.

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INTRODUCTION

You are Kadungganan, but that’s nothing special. The gods of the trees and the mountains have seen more of your kind than you have seen blades of grass. They grant you power, sure, through your incantations, and you harness ancient blasphemies with your sorcery, but that is nothing to them. What does make them interested is the fact that your footfalls heralds the end. The Festival of the Longest Night arrives, of the Addawa Year 1001, the beginning of the final days. Even the gods and the spirits shall revel in this Festival. There is no more time for hesitation: Gubat Banwa comes to fulfill its name. It will become the lands of violence. None shall escape. All shall revel. Where will you be, at the end of the world? Choose your Conviction, Kadungganan, and light your Flame of Want. Guided by Rumination, you must change the world. Death? Harmony? Power? Hegemony? Empire? Wealth? Annihilation? Become God-King, to change Gubat Banwa’s destiny? Or tear all God-Kings down, and create something different? Unsheathe your sword, and then raise it. Do not forget to cut, a sword is used for cutting.

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INTRODUCTION

Poems of the Past I’ve always hated this part, so I’ll keep it brief. You live here, so you shouldn’t have to be taught this. Your fathers and mothers would have repeated these tales to you every night, under the rictus grin of the moon.

Wisefolk have recently begun to reckon Eras: periods of time made up of multiple harvests. There are three kinds of Eras: Adlaw Tuig or Sun Eras are times of glory and peace. Stability and comfort. Sun Eras are followed by...

The Sword Isles, otherwise known as The Isles of Violence or the Ritual Archipelago, is situated in the center of the world, crafted when an ancient war god stabbed the world’s navel. The kris shattered into The Sword Isles, while the world’s blood became the shallow waters.

Bulan Tuig or Moon Eras are times of change, innovation, and dynamism. Change here can be for the good or for the worse. Moon Eras are followed by. ..

The Sword Isles is an exonym, meaning it is what other nations call it, particularly the dragon empire of Baik Hu. For the natives, they refer to their own islands, and they do not have a particular name for their cloister of isles, save for the five major polities, who have a stake in ruling over all of the isles.

Bituon Tuig or Star Eras, that time when the darkness overpowers the sky and only a few motes of light can be seen, is the time of darkness, danger, violence, atrocity, hate, and sin. It is the time when witches and demons are most active. When a Star Era ends, it is said to become a Sun Era once again.

While peace and trade settles in the other nations, the isles of The Sword Isles only intensify their violence, vying for heirloom wealth, status, servants, and revenge.

However, Wajrsatta, the Thundering Makinaadmanon, the Golden Bodhisattva of the Isles, has stated that the Eighth Star Era, should it come to pass, will be the Longest Year. By the Eighth Star Era, the stars will have been almost snuffed out by the darkness between the stars, and thus shall begin the Festival of the Longest Night, where the sky and sea become the color of the blood spilled of the eternal strife.

But first, a brief note about time. The way Sword Isle Folk reckon time is as thus: The hours of a day is measured in the Movements of the Sun. There are 16 Movements: starting from dawn and ending at the time when it is so dark that one can hardly see in front of them. They do not reckon time at night, for that is the domain of witches and demons.

The final Wars are upon us, and with it the end of Gubat Banwa.

The passing of days is measured in Moons. Every Full Moon constitutes the midpoint of a Moon. There are 7 – 12 Moons a year. Every moon consists of 29 days. Weeks are not differentiated from Moons, they are one and the same. The islanders of the Sword Isles measure of time through Moons are more precise than clocks. Years are measured in harvests. A year is the length of time between one harvest and the next, which necessarily means this is not set in stone, as conditions for harvest can differentiate and fluctuate in time. Harvests are what measure age: being 15 Harvests old is equal to being 15 years old, more or less.

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INTRODUCTION

The Violences

At the end of Eighth Moon Era, as the Eighth Star Era is heralded, the Eight Indomitable God-Kings rise, each wielding a Violence, sometimes rendered as Mahapintas (great violence). The Eight Indomitable Devaraja (eight because 8 is the perfection of divinity) have followings that toil about them. They are the crux of the world, the Greatest of the Kadungganan. These Violences the ones they have chosen to enact, and these have been condensed into items of power, their Godly Treasures. Sometimes, a single Violence is not enough. At the Center of the world is Apu Dayaw, the God of the Holy Mount Apu, protected by the Confederation of Apumbukid. They wield the Violence of Harmony, condensed into a waling-waling flower. Whoever wields the Violence of Harmony shall create the world anew. To the northeast of the center is Lunar Sultana Yarashgara XII, Consort of the Crescent, who leads the Sultanate of Akai. They wield the Violence of Striving, condensed into a taming shield. Whoever wields the Violence of Striving shall have the strength to overcome every adversity and find God. To the Southwest of the center is Raja Batara Ambasi, appointed leader of the Rajahnate of Gatusan, once simply Rajah. They wield the Violence of Conflict, condensed into a crimson kalis. Whoever wields the Violence of Conflict shall change the world.

To the far South of the center is Sangpamegat Dayang Kalangitan, the Bodhisattva of the Kingdom of Ba-e. They wield the Violence of Righteousness, condensed into a gold-tasseled parasol. Whoever wields the Violence of Righteousness shall lead all of her loved ones to Glory. To the southeast is the Empress Zhu Que Liu, the Vermillion Phoenix who is chained to wield the impossible Hegemony of Baik Hu. She wields the Violence of Empire, condensed into her 12-dragon 9phoenixes coronet. Whoever wields the Violence of Empire shall never be conquered. To the far west is the Bleeding Star Emperor, the bringer of the Empire of Issohappa. He wields the Violence of Annihilation, condensed into a bleeding star asterix. Whoever wields the Power of Annihilation shall destroy all things in their path. Finally to the far east is the Chakravarti Samrananda Varsha, the Herald of the Wheel, who leads the Varsha Empire, locked in combat with the Empire of Auraska. He wields the Violence of Wisdom, condensed into a fulminating vajra. Whoever wields the Violence of Wisdom shall lead their loved ones to enlightenment. Heed the words of the Blossomed One: a violence need not belong only to a ruler, or a king. They have these Violences because they have exploited the system. A violence can belong to anyone, to any group: from a disenfranchised group of farmers to a lone peasant girl. Violence can arise from anyone. And anyone with a Violence can become harmonious and change the world.

To the Southwest of the center is Batara Lakan Huwan Rekno, the Greatest Monarch of the Lakanate of Virbanwa. They wield the Violence of Conquest, condensed into a penitent veil. Whoever wields the Violence of Conquest shall subsume all below them.

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INTRODUCTION this one. Kings must be torn down, gods must be dethroned.

Philosophies Gubat Banwa’s setting is one of Hyper Southeast Asian fantasy. It will be difficult to grok, and there is a lot of material. It can be overwhelming, but you do not need to know every little detail about the setting. As long as you follow the following Setting Assumptions, or Philosophies you are playing in Gubat Banwa’s setting. A Violent World The word violent and consequently, violence, is a powerful word that is used by this game to denote strength of emotion. Violence is often used to mean physical force, usually in an adverse manner. Occultists and the Bible has used Violence as a manner of superlative: to showcase intense emotion. “The kingdom of the heavens is taken by violence” meant a large flock of people are filled with an overwhelming joy and feeling to enter into heaven. To take by force what we have not by nature, such as love and glory. Violence in the physical manner is also just as important in the world of Gubat Banwa. The world itself has been fraught and torn apart due to incessant violence, and the lack of response by better men. Violence is a tool, as with any human creation, and there is such a thing as justified violence. The violence of the master is different from the liberating violence of the slave. Inspired By Southeast Asia Gubat Banwa is a fantasy setting, but it seeks to re-evaluate and revamp what “Fantasy” means. It starts its foundations and assumptions upon Southeast Asian folklore and experience, instead of any fantasy literature or pop-fantasy crafted by many Western Fantasy conventions. If you wish to play Gubat Banwa, you must center Southeast Asia. Old Fantasy conventions might be found here, but only because of the inherent similarities of Southeast Asian stories with other stories. It is important to remember that Gubat Banwa is not Southeast Asia. It is inspired by it, and in turn uplifts it, but it is not it. This is an important dichotomy. There are five major mandalas in the Sword Isles, each one inspired by a different period of Southeast Asian History. 0 Gatusan - Inspired by Maritime Hindu-Buddhist Kingdoms (Srivijaya, Sugbu, Majapahit) 0 Apumbukid - Inspired by Hinterland and Highland Indigenous societies. (Sama, Balinese, Maranao) 0 Akai - Inspired by Islamized Sultanates and Kingdoms. (Sulu, Maguindanao, Ternate, Aceh) 0 Virbanwa - Inspired by Colonial Era settlements, cities, and villages. (Batavia, Malacca, Manila) 0 Ba-e - Inspired by Chinese Influence in Southeast Asia and Mainland Southeast Asian kingdoms. (Champa, Ma-i, Ayutthaya, Khmer)

The World Is in its Final Days The world of the Warring Realms is on the verge of death. It is destined to be destroyed by burgeoning empires and mercantile dreams. This era of decay is beautiful, in the same way a sunset is beautiful. The world must end, but what is important is what the people within it are doing to make a better world from its ashes: they must bring about the violence needed to bring about something better than

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Embrace Diversity There are a thousand thousand kingdoms within a thousand thousand islands. Even the larger continents are made up of an excessively diverse collection of cultures and ethnicities. This fact is inspired by the inherent and vast diversity found in the real world. Use this to your advantage: no single religion is correct, there are a million gods, no single polity type exists, you can create truly unique and weird cultures that embrace the truth of the world. No Single Ruling Body There is no single ruling empire across The Sword Isles, and especially none through Gubat Banwa. There might be some kingdoms that have a larger stretch of control over others, but there is no single ruling body that warrants a single hegemonic culture. Revel in this diversity, all become unique. Consequently, interstate war is more likely in this setup. Culture is Magic Magic here is not simply fireballs and magic hands. Gubat Banwa approaches magic through what it is: culture and religion. Magic is the little hand gestures we do before walking into a dark spot in the forest, the reverence we do by avoiding certain rocks, the worship we do by placing rice balls upon a tree stump altar. Don’t be fooled, there are still fireballs and such, but that is squarely within the purview of martial arts. Exalt the Martial Arts We reject the Western pop culture definition of martial arts being simply “kung-fu”, or anything that looks like a “Monk”. Martial Arts is an important art of any culture as much as visual art or performance art is. Martial art is an expression of humanity and culture, and so we do the same here. Any fighting style is a martial art (because they are), whether it be the sword and board or the bow and arrow. Divinity in the Uncanny Gods live within every single thing. You can speak with them, and they will speak with you. Large concentrations of them gather in the divine wilds, deep outside the limits of civilization. They do not care for you, so be careful with them. The dark is holy through them, for that is where they live. They live in the cold and the dark, in the uncanny, in the supernatural. They do not and will never think like us. Nature is not us, nature is not human. Reverence, Respect and Awe are all children of Fear. Glory Through Conviction To enact proper violence, one must have proper conviction. Violence without proper conviction is bloodlust. Violence with harmful conviction is evil. Violence with proper conviction is the path to Glory. Only by achieving Glory will one find true enlightenment, and the path to Glory is not something that can be chased after. One must become Glory.

INTRODUCTION Healing Through Violence The world is old and aged. It must change. It is wounded and scared. A sickness cannot be spoken to, it must be purged. Therefore violence is not inherently evil. In fact, in the face of the end of the world, in the face of incessant and cruel force, one must enact proper violence to be able to achieve healing. The storm must always come before the rainbow. Therefore, attain healing.

Time Keeping In general, we follow the usual time keeping as with other Tabletop RolePlaying Games. However we have different names for it, to help hew close to the mood of the game: A Scene is just that, a dramatic scene. When it ends is up to the players. A fight is almost always a scene. A Fight is a moment of kinetic action. How long it takes is variable. Each Fight has Flurries, bursts of violence and movement that showcase the back and forth of combat between two to three sides. A Session is 2-4 hours of play time, composed of several scenes in succession. An Arc is a series of Sessions that have a single, self-contained story that starts and wraps up. In a long running serial or show, this might be a particular number of episodes, chapters, or issues that focus around a single issue, problem, or situation. Arcs are usually self-contained story, with their own beginnings and endings. In Gubat Banwa, an Arc is a discreet mechanical way of providing progression: all Kadungganan begin at Arc 1. The number of Arcs in mind is how long a Kandu might go: the usual length of a Kandu is 3 Arcs. Particularly short games might only last a single Arc, made up of a few Sessions. A Kandu is a series of Arcs that interconnect and build to a grand final climax, whether it be confrontation or destruction. In precolonial Visayas, Kandu are ancient heroic epics showcasing the greatest virtues of their culture and tradition. They are notable for their repetition of important things, such as violence and drama. Kandu singers, Parakandu, perfect their craft by crafting more succinct yet beautiful metaphors for each repitition. Other Role-Playing Games might call this “Campaigns”.

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INTRODUCTION

What is Gubat Banwa? Gubat Banwa. The Warring Nations. The Lands at War. Is this all we must be? I am one to talk. My aging hands fail me, but they are more at home with the dragon-shaped hilt of my kris than the arms of my husband. Truly, the question resounds. In Gubat Banwa, martial artists fight in deliberate, tactical violence, moving in accordance with the eight-fold principle. In Gubat Banwa, warriors have intricate, complicated relationships. Sometimes so complicated that it can be too hard to keep track of at once: but that is the way of politics, the game of debts and bonds. Sons having to kill their fathers for defecting to an enemy nation, daughters having to flee to the mountains to escape misogynistic responsibilities, loved ones killing each other slowly due to orders and/or emotions, and best friends dueling at the top of a mountain in the midst of a storm as their ideologies bring them to a head.

GUBAT BANWA is a Martial Arts Tactics and War Drama Tabletop RPG, where you play as martial artists poised to change the world in the face of its end, known as Kadungganan. The game is made for 1-6 players for the optimal amount of players. Tabletop RPGs are a medium of games wherein you (and perhaps a small group of friends) take on specific roles and set out to play through particular situations. You play a role, defined by the game you play, with the game also defining the mechanics with which you play your role through. Very often the mechanics are ways to interact with the world, or perhaps with the narrative, or with the genre/feel the game is trying to convey. If you like the tactical combat of games such as D&D4e, LANCER RPG, Tactics Ogre, and Fire Emblem, then this game is for you! If you like the dramatics found in various Asian Dramas, wherein we imagine and revel in a dramatic hyperreality, this game is also for you!

There is an attainable name for those that wish to be more than just warriors. More than just Kadungganan, prestigious. It is Barani, Hero. But you are no hero. Not yet. Maybe you will, maybe you won’t. What is a hero anyway? It is up to you to find out. War, hurt, kill, blaspheme, and seize heaven’s thunderclaps. Wet your steel with blood to birth a better world.

What Kind Of Stories Can We Tell? This is up to your group, of course. Gubat Banwa is a flexible game; it is best suited for a large variety of stories that deal with themes of oppression, empire, slavery, freedom, violence, honor, society, love, friendship, and the like. Here’s a few examples of stories you can play with Gubat Banwa: 0 A Freewheeling Adventure Across Diverse Lands! Similar to adventure stories like Avatar: The Last Airbender and One Piece, you can play Gubat Banwa if you want to play a game where you are encouraged to travel across vast distances, usually by sea, to explore other locales, make friends, and find or perform a specific task, such as defeating an evil overlord or finding (or returning) a special treasure. 0 Intense Political War Story. Similar to games like Fire Emblem and Tactics Ogre, you can engage in war stories that deal with heavy political issues, such as genocide, racism, slavery, labor, mercantilism, and the nature of war. Similar perhaps to Ramza traveling across large swathes of land collecting warriors in a guerrilla fight against a corrupt religion, or Denam marching across a continent to find the truth behind an ancient empire. This is most potent across the larger mandalas with imperial goals, such as Virbanwa, Ba-e, and Akai. 0 Intense Interpersonal Drama. You can center the stories to be a bit more personal: revolving around the politics and relationships of the Kadungganan with the Folk around them, similar to a large number of dramas. There is a robust system for dramatic mechanics and social debt for this. 0 Wandering Heroes of Martial Prowess. From Legend of the Condor Heroes to Dragonball Z, this is inspired by the wandering vigilantes of wuxia. Gubat Banwa is particularly well suited for these kinds of stories, where violence and martial skill are the turning points and emotional beats of a story. 0 Rise Against. Popular in stories such as Star Wars, Iron Council, Les Miserables, and of course revolutions across history: you can imagine worlds and stories that have the Kadungganan rising against a terrible hegemony, who holds power and exploits the poor, the working class, and farmers. This is especially viable in stories set in the Festival of the Longest Night, where autocrats and datu have risen to grasp for authority. 0 The Idyllic Green and Blue. The deep forests, the grasslands, the holy mountains, the vast oceans, the cold river springs... These are the things we fight for. To preserve the world from atrocity, to achieve hiyang. Inspired by stories such as Princess Mononoke, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Breath of the Wild, this is a more peaceful and cozy kind of story that focuses on community building, wherein most usually the Kadungganan take the role of caretakers and cultivators of the land, guardians of their communities (which include the spirits) to keep them from succumbing to the bloodshed. A soft violence.

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INTRODUCTION

Where is Gubat Banwa? The Earthly Realm of Gubat Banwa, Poetically: Yutadagat Gubat Banwa means warring lands. This is the term used across the world, with various translations to Warring Lands depending on the place. It is the top realm of the Lower Shell of the world. The center of the world is the great Mountain of Apu, the Central Pillar of Space, which is a sword that pierces through all 14 Layers of Kalibutan, the cosmos. The line bisecting the map is the Sun Path: that is the path of the Sun at it arcs over the Cosmos, living in the First Layer of the Upper Shell. It rises right beside the Far Eastern Pillar of Fire, burning sand dunes into azure dust, and sets beside the Far Western Pillar of Water, where the water is boiled into sunmilk. All the lands under the Sun Path have tropical or subtropical climates. The coldest areas of Gubat Banwa are in the corners of the shell: where it is the furthest from each of the Pillars. The Far Northern and Southern Pillars themselves provide some modicum of heat, absorbed from the Sun, though it is not strong enough to prevent snowstorms. Civilizations huddle about the Pillars to heat up against the absolute zero storms.

The borders of the map are the borders of the world itself: at the edges of the world, the continents rise up into massive mountains, known as the teeth of the world. Past the teeth is the Endless Sea of Wine. We live upon the Sword Isles. Five major polities of power have emanated from five major nations, and in the midst of them all are one million polities fighting in neverending war. The islands of The Sword Isles are populated by tawo, you and me. Alongside tawo live foreigners, whom you call sina. These include humanoid beings from outside the Sword Isles, all the way to the Pale Kings and Tiger Gods in the furthest reaches of the middle world. The Sword Isles is a vast place, home to a million polities living in a million islands. Do not presume to be able to grasp them all.

A Note on Trichiliocosms Gubat Banwa is the center of an ever-unfolding hibiscus made of three billion billion realms.

The cosmos of Gubat Banwa is vast and large. Imagine a giant coconut floating in a vast sea of wine (though others ask you to imagine a lotus instead). The cosmos itself is called Kalibutan. The higher layer of Kalibutan, residing on the upper shell, are the Seven Upper Realms, and the bottom shell of Kalibutan are known as the Seven Lower Realms. Each Realm is stacked on top of each other in layers. Denizens of the two Shells can usually move in between each banwa more or less freely. However, each layer of the upper layer is guarded by a garoda, giant birds of smokeless flame. The Upper Shell are made up of the following realms, or lands. Haribanwa, the Realm of God-Kings, the 7th Realm, farthest from us mortals, where Creators watch from void. Himayabanwa, the Realm of Glory, the 6th Realm, where rescued souls go to rest, and where the angels of various cultures serve. Buhibanwa, the Realm of Life, the 5th Layer, where the highest mountains reach, and where the Tree of Life resides. Langitbanwa, the Realm of the Sky, the 4th Layer, land of the Sun, Moon, and Stars Balahalabanwa, the 3rd Layer, Realm of the Gods. Warriors that die in combat are brought here by the rainbow. Apobanwa, the 2nd layer, Realm of the Ancestors, who stride freely between this and the land of the Gods, for they become Gods themselves.

Hanginbanwa, the 1st layer, Realm of the Wind Spirits. The Lower Shell is where earthly mortals reside. The 1st Layer, the one closest to Hanginbanwa, is ours, where mortals and spirits thrive, known as Gubat Banwa. The 2nd layer is the abode of the tree and mountain spirits, and guardian spirits, known as Kahoybanwa, Realm of Wood. The 3rd layer is the realm of the sea, the oceans, saltwater, which stream in past the World Jaws from the endless Ocean of Wine. Here the sea gods dwell in their mighty kingdoms, known as Kadagatan. The 4th Layer is the layer of freshwater spirits and waterspout spirits, known as Kasubanan. Here the ancestor spirits, in the form of crocodiles, rule the earth. The 5th Layer is the layer of subterranean spirits: the gods of the lower soil, of caves, of lost things. This is the layer where Sulad is, floating in an underground ocean. Sulad, the afterlife of many Sword Isles folk, is owned by Sumpoy, Slaver of Souls, who forces folk not saved by Iraon Daron to toil as they did in life. The 6th Layer is the layer of punishment, known to many as Nerak, or Inferno. Adherents of Bulanan and Sampalataya fall here when they die and did not follow the tenets of their faith. Other folk fall here if they must be cleansed of misdeeds in their past life. The 7th Layer is the Empty Layer. It has no name. The four pillars of the world uphold the rest of the layers here, where no sound can be heard. The world shakes when the Abyssal Boar or Abyssal Serpent shakes the world pillars. Sometimes chains rattle impossibly in its vaunted halls.

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INTRODUCTION

The Five Major Mandalas Out of the million polities of The Sword Isles, five are known to be the most powerful, or greatest. The Mahamandalas. They have constant trade with the Continents, giving them a monopoly on foreign prestige goods, as well as facilitate immense trade both domestically within the archipelago and outside of it. The Sword Isles is a huge place—as it should be, being the center of the world. However, remember that it is exactly that: huge. While the five major mandalas of the Sword Isles stretch far, they are still simply just five of the One Million Polities in the Archipelago. There is more than enough room for other empires to be within the Sword Isles, trading and raiding. In the present era, however, they might not possess a Violence that positions them to be the herald that will change the world. Some examples of the million other polities that permeate the Sword Isles are thus: Sinuku of the Thundering Dragonbird, Ibalnong of the Monster Slayers and Tamers, Asinan of the Iyamati Concordance, Vuyu of the Ice-Capped Mountains, Naksuwarga of the One Thousand Gods, Barungsai of the Fated Divinity, and Sonyoh of the Rising Blades. There are many, many more. And so our eyes fall to the five, like rays upon the sun, or petals upon the lunar blossom. Five is a holy number in the isles: 4 + 1, perfection of divinity. A square with the single point in the middle, a symbol of Hari-Balahala Rakan Malaun, the most Ancient of Primordials, whose name means God-King Chief Eldest, the first ancestor of the Gods, the Giants, the Aswang, and the Demons. In the creation of the Gods, Malaun—who was duality in unity and therefore, both—manifested their masculine and feminine self and birthed unitarily the first of the gods, and became the First Ancestor. Malaun is gone now, either dead or having left Gubat Banwa, their corpse (or perhaps, what’s left of it) can be found in the deepest reaches of Mount Laon, in the isle of Naplas. Some Apunon priests have said that Apu Dayaw is Malaun.

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It is important to note that these 5 Mandalas are inspired by the entirety of Maritime Southeast Asia, but are not them. Gubat Banwa is not Southeast Asia, and we are not writing the actual cultures of these people into the game. Instead, these cultures are intensely and fundamentally based on our cultures. This means that if you play this, you are not inherently disrespecting any culture: Gubat Banwa is a fantasy game. Instead, please do appreciate the vast diversity of our cultures, how similar we are to each other, and maybe we can all realize the violence inflicted upon us by colonial borders (and colonialism in general). Additionally, there is a slight Philippine-centric focus, but that’s simply because we are Pilipinhon. We write Gubat Banwa with the paradigm of “Philippines-as-partof-the-Malay-Archipelago”. “Precolonial” means before colonial borders, after all. A Quick Note on the Mahamandalas The Sword Isles is filled with a huge number of settlements, villages, cities, and states. “State” in the Sword Isles functions differently than what is usually understood when talking about states. Instead of states having strict geographical borders, there is instead a powerful center, and then that power emanates outward: those closest to the center are more influenced and connected to the center, while those farther from the center are more prone to having their own bespoke cultures and only answer to the mandala out of trade agreements or out of acknowledgement of their power/ bonds. The center plus the surrounding power it exerts over other places are known as a mandala. This term was coined by Multiplicitous Missionaries that arrived in Ba-e (monks of Ashinin), and has since proliferated across the Sword Isles. Some villages can be powerful enough to have mandalas, but most of the time only powerful cities have mandalas.

INTRODUCTION

The Rajahnate of Gatusan The grand rajahnate, led by the great Raja Batara Ambasi, ancestor of the tiger-lord Shri Bishaya, who was once an Auraskan Prince in the far Southeast. They are royal raiders and fierce competitors, who seek to get the most out of life and create poems out of living. From the dead they create gods. They are inspired by the Hindu-Buddhist Maritime Kingdoms across Southeast Asia: including Sugbu, Butuan, Ma-I, Java, Pasai, Srivijaya, Langkasuka, Mataram, Kediri, Singhasari. Five constants about them are: 0 Has 999 Chiefdoms united in alliance to a single overlord, the Raja Batara, who controls the largest foreign trading seaport, Kangdaya. Raja Batara Ambasi bears the Violence of Change, condensed into his Dawneater Kalis, passed down through generations starting from his legendary forefather Raja Sri Bishaya. 0 Tattoos are rites of passage either in love or war. Are never not singing, like to insult and mock as a war tactic and are prone to putting family over others. Raiding is a way of life, a way of revenge. 0 Taught poetry (that is, singing and oral literature) at a very young age. A poetic culture. Have their own reading and writing system, mostly used for messages. Traditions and rites are passed down through songs. 0 Worship and uphold the religion of anitu, the spirits. These range from the gods, to the nature spirits, to the ancestor spirits, to the guardian spirits. While they seek Hiyang, they are also prone to atrocity. 0 Bolstered by the Violence of Change. Raja Batara Ambasi seeks to unite the one million polities of The Sword Isles to enact the most potent ritual raid: The Great World Raid, where they will war against all of Gubat Banwa and triumph.

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INTRODUCTION

The Confederation of Apumbukid

The protectors of Diwa, the spiritual essence of truth, sometimes known as God, other times known as “Energy” . They uphold hiyang, and travel to places wherein hiyang might be broken and destroyed, and they quell places of atrocity, expunging Scourges, manifestations of Di Hiyang. In accord with Apu Dayaw, they have been granted the ability to tap into the Root Paths, which let them travel instantaneously across Gubat Banwa by walking into strangler figs. This has caused Apumbukid to have settlements all across The Sword Isles, and many other hinterland settlements are protected by them: a practice they have only begun doing recently, in the face of the Eighth Star Era. They are inspired by the various living traditions of Maritime SEA, who still practice much of their indigenous religions: the Maranao, the Kalinga, the Bagobo, the Yakan, the Subanen, the Dayak, the Balinese, the Sundanese, and the Batak. Five constants about them are: 0They are a Confederation of Five Principalities, known as Kedatuan, each one swearing divine allegiance with Apu Dayaw. Each of the five Timway bear a Shard of Apu Dayaw’s Violence, the Violence of Harmony, which can change the world. The Five Principalities are as follows: 1 Niyawa, the Principality of Priests, Bearer of Apu’s Ritual Spear. 1 Samring, the Principality of Sages, Bearer of Apu’s Ceremonial Robes. 1 Pagariwara, the Principality of Warriors, Bearer of Apu’s Ritual Keris. 1 Diwangga, the Principality of Travelers, Bearer of Apu’s Wooden Sandals. 1 Barahanda, the Principality of Traders, Bearer of Apu’s Gold Balance. 0Every warrior performs a pilgrimage to Apu’s Balete in Usambangsa, to pay respects and stay for five days to align themselves with Diwa, and achieve Hiyang for a moment. 0They are fiercely dedicated to protecting and keeping their settlements: they have since adopted a more aggressive approach to stewardship, realizing that they cannot be idle as the world crumbles. They travel in bands searching for places of atrocity, or Scourge, or to seek out and counsel chiefs and rulers. 0They perform ritual fights within Apu’s territory, but they do not go out and raid other settlements outside of Pumirang. 0Warriors perform ritual killing to realign places into achieving Hiyang: very frequently these are the Scourge themselves: undead, demons, and the like. Sometimes however it is a particularly evil person, who is very commonly the cause of such atrocity.

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INTRODUCTION

The Sultanate of Akai

The exemplars of Divine Striving: chivalrous warriors that live in one of the largest monarchies in Gubat Banwa: a series of principalities across the hundred islands of the Foosteps of the Gods, recognizing and paying fealty to a single Sultana in the island of Siga. Inspired by the various Sultanates of postclassical Southeast Asia: Sulu, Maguindanao, Brunei, Maynila, Aceh, Johore, Gowa, Banten.

Five constants about them are: 0 Has a number of kingdoms under them, each one led by a Panglima or a Ratu/Datu. They are all led by the grand lunar monarch Sultana Yarashgara XII, Her Lunar Majesty, Consort of the Crescent Moon, sometimes known as Maharani, empress. She is bolstered by the Violence of Striving, and wishes to bring all of the Sword Isles into it, so that they may all reach Lunar Heaven. Her Violence is condensed into her Lunar Taming, a crescent shield that bears the Moon Burning Into Darkness. 0 Seek to expand their power in the name of their Divine Striving, especially in retaliation to the threat of the Reconquest of the Pale Kings and the imperialism of Virbanwa. 0 Worships the moon, and the moon has angels and devils and the Palace of Baginda Sumongsuklay. Their zeal is nigh unmatchable. 0 Are known for their Knights, which ride on horses, elephants, and even sarimanok. Sometimes they ride upon manta rays. All of these in service of divine striving. 0 Their growth in strength is unparalleled, and they are one of the most powerful polities in the Isles, possessing a large swathe of the Footsteps of the Gods under their domain.

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INTRODUCTION

The Lakanate of Virbanwa

Conquerors and imperials. Those who seek to bring the “light of civilization” upon all of the lands of the Sword Isles. Virbanwa was once the crown city of the Issohappan West Indies, the seat of the Governor General, and the primary source of Issohappa’s gold. With the success of the Lakan Conspiracy they have managed to beat back the Pale Kings, but they have subsumed the worst part of their invaders’ cultures: imperialism, mercantilism, and zealotry. The peasants and the workers that toil under Virbanwa’s Dons and Donyas survive and celebrate. They syncretize Ashen Star concepts with local folk religions. Their King is a Kind God, one that is the Father. Those of mixed blood must choose to either benefit from the predatory system, or take their identity into their own hands. It is up to them to eat the Elite and establish a kinder Lakanate. The Lakanate cannot exist without them. Inspired by the colonial cities of Southeast Asia: Spanish/American Manila, Dutch Batavia, and Portuguese Malacca.

Five constants about them are: 0 Their ruler is Batara Lakan Huwan Rekno, said to be the grandest son of the late First Lakan. He believes his penitence is that his ancestors did not unite the Sword Isles together, and thus it is up to him to do it, to save the world from the Eighth Star Era. He does this by asterix and bayonet: the Virbanwan faith in the Ashen Star and their Issohappan-style military regiments. He is bolstered by the Violence of Conquest, condensed and taking form as a crimson silk Penitent’s Veil, his and his ancestors’ atonement for failing to unite the isles. 0 Their peasants toil in eternal penitence for being born poor. Unlike their island neighbors, Virbanwa has access to vast plains for wet rice cultivation. They create canals and irrigation systems. In the past, rice was only planted for the community. However now rice is planted for profit. 0 Their religion, the Ashen Star, states that Makagagahum [maka-GA-ga-hoom] the Almighty is the Distant Star in the darkness, so far that He is so small, but watches us from His Empyrean Abode. He has tasked Huwan Rekno, who wields the Violence of Conquest, to create the Millennium Kingdom, uniting all of the million-million islands of the Sword Isles together. The Ashen Star Faith is an indigenized version of the Issohappan Bleeding Star faith, which comes from outside of the cosmos. 0 They have conquered numerous chiefdoms and kingdoms, and turned them into villages or cities, the rulers into mayors, who all pay tax to the Virbanwan Government. Tax Collectors are also mendicant priests of the Beggar Saint Ayala, who promotes mercantilism as justice. 0 They believe that most of Rusunuga is already theirs, but much of Rusunuga has begun to conspire against them. Their strength does however reach from Rusunuga’s northern tip with Gibankaw to the southern coldwind isles of Vetani.

A Note on Virbanwa and Colonialism Gubat Banwa is inherently and violently anti-colonial. We reject colonialism as anything beneficent, and anything good that comes from colonialism is not a consequent of it but of the efforts of people trying to survive within its system. Virbanwa is a scathing indictment of the neo-feudal structures of modern Philippines. It is intensely based on my lived experiences as a Filipino living in the Nation’s Capital. It is a place of dirty racism and crooked politicians. The only good thing here is the people that have to depend on each other to survive. Gubat Banwa realizes that the Filipino is a product of colonization, but we still have our own indigenous ethnic roots that we can celebrate. We celebrate surviving colonialism, not having had it. Virbanwa has heroes that see beyond the confines of their own system: that includes those that might be products of the system. Those with mixed blood, or those that revel in beloved syncretized traditions. Virbanwa is not a blade against those born because of colonization, nor of those of mixed blood. It is a bladed critique against the systems and structures that oppress us to this day.

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INTRODUCTION

The Kingdom of Ba-e

The oldest polity in the Sword Isles. They have been galvanized due to trade with Baik Hu, and the strength of their tenacity. They have the greatest connections to the past—they are heirs to Kadanay lineages, the oldest people in the Sword Isles—as well as to the future: they have many Ashinin and Annuvaran missionaries in their shores, and many Baikhan officials have begun to stay in their cities. Their Sangpamegat is also their Chakravarti, their Avalokitesvara, who exudes great merit and righteousness, a true bodhisattva that will lead her people into Glory. Inspired by the Hindu-Buddhist Kingdoms of Southeast Asia or the ones with common Chinese connection: Butuan, Ma-I (as Precolonial Laguna), Champa, Funan, Majapahit, Ayutthaya, and Khmer Five constants about them are: 0 Ruled by the Sangpamegat Kalangitan, once simply a dayang, who lives in mind and consciousness, a nearGoddess. Wielding the Violence of Remembrance, she seeks to establish a righteous kingdom that will lead others into Glory through righteousness. To this end, she seeks knowledge and power, and to bring Ba-e’s name across all of Gubat Banwa’s eight corners. The Violence of Remembrance is condensed into a gold-tasseled parasol of eight angles, a promise to fill the eight directions with Ba-e’s righteousness. 0 Has the most Baikhan influence, and many Baikhan colonies can be found in their shores. Their jungles and grasslands are pocked with giant statues of the Tranquil Sage, the Gentle Aspect of Annuvar Buddha, the Originator of the Annuvaran Faith. Pagodas and temples are created intertwined with strangler figs. 0 Ashinin and Annuvaran religions have arrived here, brought by Tranquil Missionaries from the Southern and Southeastern Continent regions. Many of them have been syncretized with indigenous anitu, creating Ba-enon Anitu, which has subsumed much of the other gods brought in from Ashinin and concepts on metaphysics from Annuvara. It is heavily rumored that the Sangpamegat is in her current state because she was taught by Annuvaran monks, and that she is now a bodhisattva, a being poised to become a Himayanon (Blossomed), but has chosen to stay to lead others into enlightenment. 0 One of the richest nations in all of the Sword Isles, having access to vast sources of gold and access to constant trade with Baik Hu, which has recognized it as a tributary state and named Kalangitan as Queen. They have created various gold items and turned them into weapons through peerless craftsmanship. Kaiyumi, one of the Sangpamegat’s sons, was said to have sorcerously created this Ba-enon Gold Alloy, which makes gold as strong as steel. Kaiyumi Gold is highly sought after. They also have access to vast rice fields, letting them perform wet rice cultivation and creating vast amounts of rice. 0 Monastic schools are prevalent here, especially the House of Wisdom, crafted by the Sangpamegat to forge Swordscholars that will exalt the violence of remembrance. These Swordscholars travel the isles etching down traditions, stories, and song upon imperishable copperplate so that none of them may vanish in the Eighth Star Era.

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II: PLAY In this section of the book, learn how to play the game with the rules. Keep in mind that Gubat Banwa is a particularly involved game, and it demands your attention. The Play Manuscript has three sections: Seasons, War Drama, and Tactical Martial Arts. Before learning about how to roll, here are the following General Rules that you should keep in mind when playing a game of Gubat Banwa.

PLAY

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PLAY

The Himulawan Rule � Bulawan, Bisaya for Gold or pure gold. The Bulawan Rule is this: fiction and drama over everything else. If it makes sense in the fiction or if its particularly dramatic, it happens. Let the story being told take precedence over rules. In combat, if someone is Incapacitated, they obviously would not be able to perform effects or keep an effect going, because they’re unconscious. Additionally, this is an endorsement for players (specifically the Umalagad) to create rulings. Rulings over rules.

The Pilak Rule � Pilak, Tagalog/Bisaya for Silver. The Pilak Rule is this: specific trumps general. A specific rule from a Discipline or item is what will happen instead of a general rule. If a general rule tells you that you suffer damage, but a specific rule says that you do not suffer that damage, then you do not suffer that damage.

The Tumbaga Rule � Tumbaga is Bisaya for Copper. The Tumbaga Rule is the rule of rounding. Whenever you must halve something, unless otherwise stated, round up.

The Vajra Rule � The Vajra is the Thunderbolt or Diamond. As much as possible, the mechanics presented here in Gubat Banwa is injected with the high-flying, ballistic martial arts melodramatic fiction that can be found in many Philippine Epics, Southeast Asian stories, and Wuxia dramas. However, for this to work best, it requires the buy-in from the players.

The above rule additionally means it won’t trigger off of effects that have “X per Y+”, as it is just a Hit and not a number rolled. Both Kadungganan and Umalagad begin each Session with 1 Thunderbolt Token. When you try to stop a flood and gain a Full Success through Water, perhaps you can describe that you manage to meditate and unlock a hidden connection through extreme meditation, and you manage to stop the flood with telekinetic prowess. When you try to intimidate a warlord and gain a partial success, you can take hold of the interpretation. After a booming speech against the warlord, perhaps the warlord is simply even more agitated, and this in turn caused your warriors to be agitated as well, and so you start improvising and say: you actually invoked an ancient clan war between the settlements, and now you must fight it again to seal it once and for all. When you Stride, say out loud that your Kadungganan is rushing across vines, vaulting over fallen trunks, running across ruin walls. When you inflict violence, say out loud that your Kadungganan is unleashing a flurry of strikes, or is striking 6 times in a span of a second (works best if you roll 6 Attack Teeth!)

The Puthaw Rule � Puthaw means iron in Bisaya. The Puthaw Rule is this: follow your responsibilities. These are: 0 Agree on a Theme and Tone 0 Care about combat 0 Play into the melodrama 0 Make every fight meaningful 0 Learn to fight together 0 Make sure everyone is safe

One of the most important rules of Gubat Banwa is to describe martial arts and drama through the mechanics.

0 Make sure everyone is having fun

In general, if you describe what you are doing in the fiction in a melodramatic or badass way (describing your Stride as wuxia-style bounds, acting out a speech with another warrior that you must betray but you have begun having feelings for) you gain a Thunderbolt Token!

0 Fill the Kadungganan’s life with war and drama

Whenever you Cast, you can spend any number of Thunderbolt Tokens to turn that many Alignment, Attack or Defense Teeth from Non-Hits or NonDefends into Hits or Defends, before cancelling.

0 Portray a fantastical feudal world embroiled in war 0 Play to find out what happens

The Sword Isles is not a nice place. In fact, it is a horrible place. It is a place that is directly horrible because of the actions of those that have gone before. They who have perpetuated this never ending war, this endless cycle of blood and vengeance. This can only be achieved if everyone is on the same page. This world is a world primed for the kinds of stories Gubat Banwa wants to tell, and you must play into your role as Kadungganan that must suffer it.

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PLAY Agree on a Theme and Tone

Make Sure Everyone is Having Fun

And stick to it. As a Kadungganan, you have an equal amount of work needed to do to make sure that the entire game fits the tone that your entire table has agreed upon. Make sure you hew closely to it, so everyone can have fun. If you agreed on a lighthearted game, maybe don’t inject torture into it. If you’re going for a gritty war story, try not to stray too far from it and try to marry a dragon to create crocodile eugenics.

This is probably the most important one, on par with having everyone be safe. Make sure everyone is having fun. It is not only the Umalagad’s job to reach out and ask if people are having fun (the Umalagad is no lord or master) but also the Kadungganan’s. Remember that this is a social activity, it is telling stories around a bonfire. It is singing an improvised song. Sometimes it might not get fun, or something might spoil the fun. Be open, be communicative, and always remember that at the end of the day, this is only a game. And games are supposed to be fun. Not just for you, but for everyone else at the table.

Care About Combat As a Kadungganan, your primary mode in life is to fight. You will get into fights eventually, so operate with this in mind. In that sense, this is a combat heavy game. What did you expect from a war drama game set in Fantasy Late Porcelain Period Philippines, which was characterized by intensifying violence? Remember your stats, your rules, your abilities, so everyone can have fun when the battlefield music plays.

Portray a Fantastical Feudal World Embroiled in War

Siblings locked in eternal war. Once lovers now enemies. Once enemies, now lovers. Play into the melodrama one would see on Filipino Telenovelas, K-Dramas, and even Chinese Dramas. This elevated sense of drama is what makes these mediums so entertaining, and it is pretty entertaining to see on the table as well. Play into them. Don’t shy away from them.

Not just a fantastical world, but a world where Datu rule settlements, fight over manpower and not just land, and raid those that have slighted them. A world where insults are taken personally and can lead to wars, where wives and husbands are sought for by powerful chiefs. A world where malevolent forces of nature--which only appear due to the actions of the mortals themselves--arise and try to kill the Kadungganan. A dangerous and daring world that needs those that are willing to look past themselves. This need not be a Precolonial Philippineinspired setting either: you can make up a loose feudal society of Island Kings and Sea Queens on the spot if you’re inspired enough by the lore of the game.

Make Every Fight Meaningful

Fill the Kadungganan’s Life with War and Drama

Gubat Banwa fights last long. It’s made to be that way: they are made to be interesting and major. But the only way for you to get invested into such fights is if you made it meaningful. The Umalagad will help facilitate this: maybe the current combat has your long lost brother in it, or maybe the footsoldiers are people you once respected.

A Kadungganan’s life is always going to be embroiled in interpersonal conflict, relationship melodrama, and violent combat in a setting such as The Sword Isles, where states are at war, prides are at stake, and families are at risk. Play this up for the group. You want players to be agonizing about an NPC that they’ve grown attached to but might have to kill, or being intensely protective of a certain NPC. Even better: if the Kadungganan become intensely protective of each other. Use their connections, their old lovers, brothers, fathers against them. As the Umalagad, you are cruel fate.

Play Into the Melodrama

However, it is still up to you to make it meaningful to your Kadungganan. In fact, this can lead to some interesting emergent storytelling, if even during a combat you realize that your Kadungganan might sympathize or what have you with their enemy’s plight, making it a grueling dance. Pick up the slack: the Umalagad may be singing the song, but you are still the subjects of it, you are the ones guiding the song. Learn To Fight Together Gubat Banwa is also inherently a team-based game. Despite the war torn land, you find a little slice of family with your allies. Thus, your objective is not to make yourself stronger than them, but rather, find out how to make yourself stronger for them. Gaining abilities and skills that would help the entire party. This is a benefit as well in combat, since much of the player and enemy math is centered around the buffs and debuffs and abilities that can only be attained if the players play off of each other. You will never be able to survive alone. Make Sure Everyone Is Safe Always use safety tools and establish boundaries. Use tools such as Lines and Veils, X, N, and O Cards, and Script Changes. If you look up TTRPG Safety Tools on Google, you will find a whole slew of them. Choose whichever one you think fits well with your group. I personally am a huge advocate for Lines/Veils, X/N/O Cards, and Stars and Wishes. Here's a good article for safety tools: https://optionalrule. com/2021/01/29/safety-consent-rpg-checklist/

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Play To Find Out What Happens The best thing about Tabletop Role-Playing Games is that you don’t know what will happen at the table. Even if you have an adventure planned out, or are following a scenario or module, that kind of structure can only take you so far. Let the Kadungganan’s actions blossom and snowball, push their actions to the logical limit. Have whatever structure or idea you had in mind stuck there in the background, let it happen while the players work, and then when you get a golden opportunity in the fiction, use it. Then, let the players react. Find out what happens when they do. Play to find out what happens is one of the best innovations of Tabletop Role-Playing Games: it’s a principle and mindset that Video Games cannot replicate. Lean on it. You don’t have to prep a beginning, middle, and then ending, like you would a novel. Instead, prep events that showcase more of the world, characters that have hidden motives and agendas, and ancient spirits and gods that have set in motion plans since the end of the Seventh Sun Era. Then, put the Kadungganan within them and play to find out what happens when you do.

PLAY

Modes of Play

Gubat Banwa is a tabletop role-playing game that can be played in a number of ways. These play modes are: Solo Play, Co-Op Play, and Traditional Play. Before playing, you can choose which version of Play you wish to do. These modes of play can be interchanged at any point: if from Solo Play you want to transition into Co-op Play, you can! 0 Solo Play is exactly that: you control a single Kadungganan and go through the Sword Isles by yourself. You can even accrue companions, but they will not be as powerful as your own Kadungganan. You usually need just 1 player, yourself, 0 Co-op Play (short for Cooperative Play) is when a group of players play as Kadungganan, but without an Umalagad. You travel through the Sword Isles in troupe-play everyone playing NPCs and the like, as they fight enemies, solve mysteries, and overthrow thrones. You usually need 2-5 other players with you. 0 Traditional Play is the default mode of play common in traditional RPGs, wherein a group of players play as Kadungganan while one plays as the Umalagad, a sort of master of ceremonies or arbiter who facilitates the revelation of the world. You usually need 3-6 players here, with one player taking the role of the Umalagad.

What You’ll Need The following rules will cover Solo Play to Traditional Play.

Kadungganan

Umalagad

The river of life ever flows. Rejoice in the glory of battle… Kadungganan. Those who bear the Steel of Conviction, the Flame of Want, the Burden of Rumination, and the strength of Conviction. Stand, now. Stand, and never let the world bring you to your knees! Kadungganan! Fulfill your blasted name! In honor and legend, let your name be writ across the eternal stars! Stride upon the bloody lands of GUBAT BANWA and change the course of history! Sunder the world with your sins so that we may build a better one.

O faithful guardians, gods of this world, hear our calls and our hearts

Kadungganan in Gatusanon, Hulubalang in Akainon, Bayani in Ba-e, Kabalyero in Virbanwa, and Vwiraya in Apu-apu. Kadungganan means Honor and Prestige. It is what you are. If we are to translate it to this tongue, it can be Gallant or Knight. Kadungganan is the Trade Mataram term for the various esteemed and honorable warriors across all of Gubat Banwa. It is a lingua franca term for martial artists who are the best and most skilled of all the warriors of their culture, whether they be the Mahavira of the Varshan Empires to the Xia of Southern Baik Hu. In Gubat Banwa, you play as these Kadungganan. As a Kadungganan, the world around you treats you with a certain respect. Warrior cultures might look upon you as a folk hero, and treat you with the same respect as nobles. Others, such as powerful states and hegemonies, might look upon you as a true nuisance, an evil upstart, threats to their absolute authority. As a Kadungganan, you play to uphold your Conviction and to fulfill your Want. While in Gubat Banwa the cultures mostly look upon Kadungganan as these unblemished heroes who are worthy of places in their songs and genealogies, this cannot be any farther from the truth. Kadungganan, by virtue of their Want, are capable of exalted highs, but also are prone to falling to the lowest of lows.

Find us true and pure and clean and cleanse us from any impurities Guard us from all things that wish to bend us. In the darkness of the Eighth Star Era, where the Goddess of the Blackest Night brings impenetrable darkness: Be our only guiding light.

Umalagad means Guardian Ancestor. Very often known as Umalagad across many cultures, known as Ferandal in Apumbukid, Kiraman in Akai, Katutubo in Ba-e, and Anghel in Virbanwa. In Solo and Co-Op Play, the Umalagad is a guiding force, and not a player role. When things seem uncertain, the Kadungganan Look to the Umalagad to keep the game moving. In traditional play, it is the role of the Umalagad to see that a Kadungganan goes on their journeys, and work toward their Convictions and Wants. To this end, you facilitate the revealing of Gubat Banwa to the Kadungganan, to the players. Whenever the Kadungganan acts, the Umalagad dictates how the world reacts. As a Umalagad, reveal that the world of Gubat Banwa is bloody and visceral, fraught with violence, infighting, but also reveal that it can be saved, that there is always good, and that that is worth fighting for. The Umalagad’s role is to establish fiction, and then react. The Kadungganan will act, move through the rivers of the fiction, and the Umalagad reacts to it. In Traditional Play, the Umalagad’s responsibility is roleplaying as the world, as the world of the mortals, Gubat Banwa, as the various NPCs, or Non-Player Characters, that the umalagad have deemed fated to be complicated and entwined into the hearts and drama of the Kadungganan. The Umalagad influence the movement of the world, after all, and the Kadungganan pay respects, revere rites, and worship the umalagad to bring them good tidings.

As a Kadungganan, you can change the world. But are you willing to lose yourself in the process?

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PLAY Play Accoutrements Grab the supplied character sheet on the itch or drivethrurpg page. Then you will need one of each kind of polyhedral die: (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, and Percentile dice/d100). It will be a good idea to have multiple (around 10) d8s and d10s. For stranger dice, such as “d2, d3 and d5”, simply roll d4, d6 or a d10 and half the result. Or count every 2 numbers as 1 (for d3, roll a d6. 1-2 is 1, 3-4 is 2, and 5-6 is 3). Finally, if you choose to play with Tactical Martial Arts, you must have a battle grid and any sort of tokens. This can be anything, as long as you can use it to symbolize enemies on a battlefield, as well as players on a battlefield. Gubat Banwa prefers the use of square grids, but can easily use other grids as well, or even gridless, counting each square as 1 inch.

Then, create the Kadungganan and their Warband. The Umalagad will be focusing on building the world and creating NPCs, those destined to meet with the Kadungganan, along with any combat rules they might need when violence inevitably breaks out. To help with this, the Core Rulebook contains a bunch of easily usable starting points below the Character Creation section, as well as easily digestible lore for the Umalagad to use. Those that will be playing as the Kadungganan will be creating their own warriors to fight against whatever happens in their lives. They will fight against in both physical wars as well as social bouts and mental violence to seize the day and survive in this land of constant conflict.

Solo Play Recommended for beginners and those that don’t have Gubat Banwa’s mechanics down, you can start trying out Gubat Banwa for mostly free, without the need for someone to run for you, through its Solo Play mode! Solo play uses your own imagination, divinations, and a robust tactical martial arts system to create diverse narratives, compelling storytelling, and intricate situations that you can immerse yourself into, to experience the vast world of Gubat Banwa, and to pave in blood and metal the legend of your Kadungganan. What songs will they sing of you?

Things You Need Solo Play requires you the same things needed with traditional play, with some other things. Notably, one thing you don’t need is another player that takes on the role of an Umalagad. 0 Something To Record Your Ventures: You need a paper and pencil. Ideally this is some sort of notebook that you can use as a journal, that you can use to track down what happens on your Kadungganan’s journeys. Writing down what happens to you is known as Inscribing. Of course, you can also write this down on a computer or some other sort of document. 0 Divinations: This Core Rulebook has a large Divination section. Divination is the term used for oracles or the tables used to create randomized outcomes to help facilitate the movement of the narrative. You can use other books for Divinations! In fact, you can use resources outside of RPGs, such as academic papers or books, to find more inspiration.

Solo Principles Here is a general list to keep in mind for Solo Play. These Guidelines must be followed if one wants an optimal play experience. 0 Surrender yourself to the fiction. Give yourself to the fates. Revel in the dramatic, do not revel in trying to win every single argument. If you want an interesting story, fail and accept consequences. 0 Think Outside Yourself. While in a situation, think about how the other characters might speak with your own Kadungganan. Do not think in terms of how your Kadungganan might be benefitted. Think instead of the wants and needs of each character, and play into the fiction of that. 0 Think of your Kadungganan’s Feelings. Emotions and feelings are the most important parts of this game. Kadungganan tend to have larger than life emotions, and you are welcome to play it up. Always keep their emotions in mind. 0 Keep Track of Combat. Use a notebook or some such if you are opting to play Solo with tactical martial arts, which is configured anyway to be able to run perfectly well with solo games, although it does require the player to have a larger grasp of Gubat Banwa’s martial intricacies.

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PLAY How To Play Solo

The Venture

There are a myriad of ways to begin playing solo. Very often you can put down a map and then be on your way, but of course this is easier said than done. For those that want to start playing Solo, follow these!

When you leave a Point of Peace and travel through the Sea of Conflict (that is, any unfamiliar place, dangerous waters, hazardous locales [which might include parts of a city]) define the Venture’s Threat (below) and then mark down an appropriate Venture Moon.

0 Choose a Region. There are ten major regions that cover vast swathes of the Sword Isles. You can use this as your starting point, or you can choose to make your own region or settlement by following Divinations, such as the Settlement Divination. 0 Decide whether you’re within a settlement or outside of one. This can influence how you start your game: if outside a settlement, ask yourself why? Are you in the midst of a raid? A fight? Maybe you’re out hunting? Or maybe you’re adventuring? 0 Record Your Starting Position. Inscribe your first touchstone, as stated in the Inscribe Your Song mechanic detailed below. Then, you can begin. Either roll on a Divination, or describe how your Kadungganan is carried by their heart to venture.

Look To the Umalagad When you want to answer questions, determine how a character might respond, discover details about Gubat Banwa, you may Look To The Umalagad.

Threats 0 Risky Venture: A 4-Crescent Moon. 0 Challenging Venture: A 5-Crescent Moon. 0 Dangerous Venture: A 6-Crescent Moon. 0 Formidable Venture: An 7-Crescent Moon. 0 Legendary Venture: A 8-Crescent Moon.

Every time you further your Venture (in the fiction by travelling, or fighting through a jungle), make a proper Cast. When the Venture Moon becomes Full, you reach your Destination. Every Crescent represents headway into the Venture. When you fail a Cast or suffer Consequences, you face a Danger (some sort of encounter) or lose 1 crescent. If you lose a crescent while you already have 0, you become hopelessly lost:raise the Venture Threat by 1 if possible.

When you Look to the Umalagad, choose one from below: 0 Conclude: Decide an answer based on the most interesting or dramatic result. Perhaps use a Catch. 0 Likelihoods: Choose 2 options for the question. Then, assign a likelihood rating for them each within 10. Example: Option 1 might be true on 1-3, while Option 2 might be true on 4-10. 0 The options can even be what your Kadungganan does, to keep things interesting, but making sure it’s in line with their Principle, Want, and Conviction. This can be, for example, “Do I kill him or spare him?” For a more benevolent Kadungganan, the “Kill Him” option might have a 1-2 chance of happening, while the “Spare Him” option might have a 3-10 chance of happening. 0 This can also be used to answer more uncertain things. For example, when trying to find out where something might be, you might ask: “Is it deep in the forest or out in the sea?” Both which might have a 1-5 chance and 5-10 chance of being true. Whatever it may be, you must get this answer from within the fiction. 0 Something Wicked Happens: Think deep and true for something interesting, or roll a Divination. 0 This is where you can ask: What happens now? What do they want? And the like. You can answer this on your own, whichever might be the most interesting, or you can roll a Divination.

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PLAY Inscribe Your Song In Solo or Co-Op Play, inscribing your song upon your journal is an important procedure that you must always go through. Writing it down anywhere can help crystallize what happens in the fiction. Think of these as points of no return: once you write them, you cannot undo them. You can choose the frequency of when you inscribe what happens in the fiction. A common choice is inscribing when Casting the Crocodile’s Teeth, as Casting is often a decision point that you cannot turn back from. Another common choice is during important events, which can help you decide what you write down as important as things come to a head. When you inscribe your song while in a Point of Peace or in Downtime, crystallize the events upon the copperplate of your soul. Then, answer one (1) of the following questions and write down the answer, explaining particularly how your Kadungganan feels about it. 0 Am I the same person that I was? 0 Did I suffer horrible consequences? 0 How do I feel about my Conviction being tested? 0 Did my Conviction bring me to a worse place than before? 0 Has violence brought me love? 0 Has love brought me violence? 0 Have I done something that honors the ancestors? How?

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PLAY

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PLAY

War Drama War Drama is one of the two modes of Gubat Banwa, the other being Tactical Martial Arts. In War Drama, you eviscerate yourselves and others upon the altar of war, to change and shape upon yourself a Gubat Banwa that you wish to live in. As Kadungganan, you are poised to change the world. As freemen, you can choose which Chief to follow. As warriors, you are free to take the world by its reins. As nonnobles, or as petty aristocrats, you are closer to the earth that you walk upon than the actual regents and vassals that walk the land. As Kadungganan, you look upon the world with a shattered heart. Is this all there is? Constant war and bloodshed? Claim your sword, Kadungganan. Rise. Sunder the world with your sins, so that you may pave the way for a better one. War Drama has a slew of rules, and many of them are important mechanics to drama. The portions of War Drama are: Casting the Crocodile’s Teeth explains what you do when you make an uncertain or dramatic action: you roll the dice and divine your fate. 0 Moons are analogous to progress clocks, wherein crescents are filled in with segments as danger rises, as you work on a long-term project, or as you face other warriors. 0 Honor and Barter, explains how commerce works in the isles: that is, each polity values items differently, and your honor might give you leverage on the things that you can gain. 0 Debt is the most important aspect of Sword Isle social networks. It is the primary way connections are made, and how Social Classes are enforced. 0Downtime is how you spend your times of rest. You can only Downtime in Places of Peace, and cannot downtime elsewhere. While not in Downtime, you are venturing. 0

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PLAY

Casting the Crocodile’s Teeth The Sword Isles is full of uncertainty. In Role-Playing Games, you can do almost anything you wish your character will do in the fiction, as long as it makes sense with both your established character and the established fiction. However, some things might be uncertain, or have a dramatic outcome. When these things happen, we cast the crocodile’s teeth, that is to say: we roll dice and interpret what it means, and then apply that interpretation to the fiction. If attempting an action that is uncertain or dramatic, you must Cast The Crocodile’s Teeth. Find out how you are approaching the action to determine what Alignment is to be used, and then determine, according to the fiction, how great the effect will be. Collect a number of Difficulty Teeth depending on the Moxie of your action. Moxie determines the fictional position of your roll: is it something you are confident in? Or something that you are doubtful of? Dropping down from the parapets of a fort upon a moving horse might make your Moxie Hesitant, but speaking to a king with particular knowledge of dirt upon him might make your Moxie Confident. In general, however, a Kadungganan’s Moxie is Daring.

Uncertain might mean: “I try to stop this boat from crashing into the river with my bare ability. I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it, so may my forefathers bear witness.” Dramatic might mean: “I want to try and persuade this aristocrat to my side, to create a blood compact. Should I fail, I will incur their ire. Should I succeed, I will gain the favor of a harbor prince, and gain access to international riches.”

Collect a number of d10s equal to [2 + Alignment], your Alignment Teeth. If there are any items, subcultures, lineages, social standing, convictions, or fictional effect that would give you some sort of help or advantage, gain +1d per advantage, to a max of +2d.

Collect all Alignment and Difficult Teeth and roll them together. Look for 6+ on all of them. Every 6+ on the d10 Alignment Teeth is a Hit. Every 10 is 2 Hits. Every 6+ on the d8 Difficulty Teeth is a Miss. Misses cancel out Hits 1-for-1.

Daring = Roll 3d8. Hesitant = Roll 4d8. Confident = Roll 2d8. If the final result has...

Reading The Teeth Interpretation

Partial Success means you get what you want, but there’s a catch. Full Success means you get what you want as stated by your action and alignment. Legendary Success means you get what you want in a feat of peak human excellence. Explicitly supernatural effects might come from Legendary Success. (Example: Stopping a landslide with a Legendary Success might have the Kadungganan achieve temporary true transformation into their meditational deity to stop the success.) Failure means you suffer some sort of consequence to your action. This might not mean you do not do your action. When you fail, gain a Thunderbolt Token. Dramatic Failure means suffer a consequence as with a Failure, but also with a catch that will change the course of the fiction.

1-2 Hits

3-4 Hits

5+ Hits

No Hits

1+ Misses

Partial Success

Full Success

Legendary Success

Failure

Dramatic Failure

Catches

0 Threaten the Kadungganan with either violence or drama. 0 Show something awe inspiring. 0 Let the spirits play and dance. The spirits can fuck with the Kadungganan, as they are wont to do. 0 Place the Kadungganan into a high stakes situation. 0 Spotlight one of the Kadungganan. 0 Exploit weaknesses or complications. 0 The environment threatens to shift. 0 Give the Kadungganan an opportunity to showcase their strength and skill. 0 Introduce a new aspect to the current scene that might change how they view it. 0 Introduce something that the Kadungganan must react to immediately. 0 A twist of fate, Look To The Umalagad and consult Divinations to see what might happen next.

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Consequences

0 Wound. Take away something important from the Kadungganan as a consequence, whether it be a Consumable, an Anting-Anting, a Technique, or give them an Injury. 0 Complicate. A Complication or Debt arrives to take the Kadungganan away from the scene. 0 Accusation. Accuse the target of an honor-shattering deed, earning the ire of others, potentially lowering their Honor. 0 Reveal. Force one of the Kadungganan or one of the NPCs to reveal something they don’t want to. 0 Shift. Change the environment forcefully, whether it be climate, mood, or even the place where the scene is taking place. 0 Impair. The Kadungganan is impaired in some way, they suffer Penalty on a roll that is related to the impairment. This Penalty lasts until they can heal the Penalty. 0 Heaven Moves Without You. Showcase something that happens away from the Kadungganan, which they usually cannot do anything about. 0 Revel in Love and Lightning. Throw the Kadungganan into violence.

PLAY Kinds of Moons

Moons The clock exists in The Sword Isles, but it is not needed. Time is reckoned perfectly by the movement of the sun, and days are reckoned flawlessly by the phases of the moon. The Bakunawa, celestial eater, rises up to eat it, causing eclipses. The Moon is a tool used to gauge accumulated progress to a certain fictional happening. Use this when having to resolve something that requires more than a single Cast to perform, and requires several actions to see it through. When the rules tell you to create a moon, doodle a circle and separate it into crescents. The most common is 4crescents. If a certain activity is difficult or takes a long time, it might be 6-crescents. If it’s extremely hard and/or takes a really long time, it might be 8-crescents. This should be named specifically with the goal in mind: “The Palace” or “The Raiders”. The Crescents should be about the obstacle or event, and not the method. Afterward, define what crescents mean in the context of the Moon. Each Moon is different. For example: a “King’s Kris” wherein each crescent represents a step in the progress of crafting the King’s Kris. In contrast, a “Prince’s Settlement” Moon wherein each crescent represents the village getting more and more agitated by the presence of the Kadungganan as the Kadungganan tries to find more information. If the event requires a long amount of time, a particularly large amount of actions, or a particularly complex problem might require 2 or more linked crescents. Example: There are Raiders outside of your village that are planning on raiding it. You want to face this problem, so you mark it out as an 8-Crescent Impending Moon. This means that whenever you fail a Catch or Consequence, you fill in a Crescent, representing the imminent danger of the Raiders. A crescent can also be filled in according to the fiction: if the Kadungganan do nothing of importance and only dally, fill in a Crescent to remind them of the impending arrival of the Raiders. There are three potential things that might help the Kadungganan: Secure Chokepoints, Ask help from an Akai Outpost, and perform a proper ritual to the mountain gods. Each one becomes a Moon in itself, linked to the Raider Moon. Each one is 4-Crescent: Chokepoints, Akai Outpost, and Mountain God Ritual. Each one is a Progress Moon, meaning each Crescent represents progress done to finishing what they want. Catches and Complications don’t hinder progress of Progress Moons, though. Instead, they still fill in Crescents on the Raider Moon, representing the imminent danger of the Raiders as the Kadungganan scramble to get help for the Raiders. No matter what happens, though, the Raiders will arrive more or less. It’s all a matter of how well protected the village will be when they arrive.

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What follows is a non-exhaustive list of kinds of Moons that you can employ for your games, detailing what each Crescent represents. Impending Moon As already stated, the impending moon represents an impending danger. This can be the alerting of warriorguards within a settlement you’re trying to sneak through, the ire of a diplomat, or indeed the impending doom of raiders. Each crescent represents a countdown of the arrival of consequence, and might even signify things changing in the environment: at 3/4 crescents, for example, one might hear the warhorns and marching symphonies of the incoming raider warband. Progress Moon Progress Moons represent longterm work for a project. This can be something crafted, or perhaps an important ritual with multiple components required to be able to work. Each crescent filled represents the eventual completion of the progress, and is commonly used for more beneficial things. Gaining successes on Casts here commonly grants crescents to the moon. Phasing Moon This kind of Moon represents a tug-of-war sort of progress, which represent a back and forth. Perhaps you are trying to sway a powerful aristocrat: each crescent filled is the Kadungganan making a good argument for the aristocrat to consider. Phasing Moons are unique in that they can lose crescents. Losing crescents represent an argument or perhaps a social faux pas that causes the aristocrat to lose faith in the Kadungganan. When the Moon is filled, the aristocrat is swayed. However, if the Moon is at 0 Crescents and the Kadungganan does something that causes them to lose another Crescent, the Moon is consumed and they are blocked off from the Action. In this example’s case: the aristocrat is deaf to their arguments, and might even cause a violent reaction from the aristocrat if the action that caused them to consume the moon is particularly blasphemous. Dueling Moons Dueling Moons represent two or more different parties trying to achieve some goal first. This one has you creating two or more competing Moons with the same amount of Crescents. Whoever’s Moon fills first (each crescent filled by anything that helps them achieve their goal) wins. This can be used for races (two moons that represent two racing warriors) or even duels (two duelists finding an opening first). Faction Moon This is mostly optional, but to simulate a dynamic world, one can choose to assign Faction Moons to any faction they think is relevant for their game. Anytime the Kadungganan rest in Downtime, fill in a crescent for each Faction Moon, representing them changing, growing, or performing moves. Each crescent represents a shift in the faction, which must be defined: a Crescent filled might represent that faction finally gaining horses, or a faction making a treaty.

PLAY Bartering

Honor

Honor lets you barter. Often, people will want something exactly equal in value (in their eyes) when you want something. If you want a sword, then you must trade something equally important back, perhaps like a slave.

In the Archipelago of The Sword Isles, there is no proper coinage. Due to the inherent and vast interconnectedness of the Sword Isles, there is no single currency. Instead, warriors and kings deal in honor. In the Sword Isles, goods are exchanged for either other goods or services. As Kadungganan, your main form of gaining goods is rendering service to rajas, especially if you are still a new warrior who has not yet made name for themselves.

However, if you have Honor, you can haggle. If you have Honor of at least 1, you can spend that Honor to add +1d to any cast related to haggling with the person. (Example: Haggling with a merchant for a cannon might necessitate some kind of Cast. You can spend whatever Honor you have to gain +1d to try and succeed that Cast, as the merchant contemplates upon your place in the Sword Isles.)

Honor is your social status: the higher Honor you have, the more dependable people find you. Only those with high honor can become kings. Only the most honorable warrior can become chakravarti. As a Kadungganan, you begin with 0 Honor. You cannot have more Honor from than [Your Legend + 1]. The primary usage of Honor, other than Kadungganan Advancement, is spending it to influence others. When you ask something from someone that they would feasibly do (example: giving you something they sell, granting you an estate, giving you retainers, fighting on your side) you may either spend 1 of their Debt that they owe you or spend a number of Honor equal to what they ask for. The Honor you must spend can be determined randomly depending on what you’re asking them to do: Their Disposition to the Proposition Something they are likely to do (because they like you, it is easy for them, etc.) Something they must think about (because it is difficult for them, or they do not particularly like you) Something they are not likely to do at all (because they don’t like you, or it is an almost impossible task).

Honor to Spend 1d4 2d4 3d4

Your Honor fluctuates. If your Honor ever hits -1 or lower, you become a true villain: your character becomes an NonPlayer Character. This means that Kadungganan can lose all Honor while being at high Legend: that is what makes for true infamy.

Mountain settlements for example might consider fish and salt essential items, but they might consider rice-something they harvest and export--as abundant items. Gaining abundant items are easy, but things that are commonly considered valuable or treasure in the isles require specialized merchants and traders to gain, but are signs of wealth. Richer datu might want to establish good connections with you if you showcase treasure on you, such as foreign armor. Foreigners would usually count what is just commodities to Sword Isles Folk as necessities. Pearls in the Sword Isles might be abundant (pretty ones nevertheless, and used as jewelry), but they are treasure in Baik Hu and Iyamat. Clay pots are abundant in the isles, but Iyamat folk treat them as essentials due to their ability to store tea leaves. Lose Honor When You... Break a promise. Kill someone meritorious. Are defeated in Violence. Suffer Consequences. Break a social taboo. Blaspheme someone important. Inflict violence indiscriminately, without proper conviction. Are accused of doing something dishonorable. Voluntarily choose not to follow your Conviction.

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Gain Honor When You... Accomplish Victory in Violence. Achieve an optional objective in Violence. Find a truth about the world. Perform a task for someone higher than you. Earn the favor of kings. Prove your loyalty to another. Engage in violence in line with your Conviction, beliefs, and loved ones. Prove that you are trustworthy. Choose your Conviction, even to the detriment of others.

PLAY

Debt

Example: If Sampong Baha saves Bakong from an execution, Sampong Baha gains Bakong’s Debt. As long as Sampong Baha has Bakong’s Debt, Bakong is considered as owing Sampong Baha.

Debt is used to denote someone’s personal obligation to someone else for doing something for them. In The Sword Isles, Debt is such a ubiquitous concept that entire polities and villages are formed around Debt, and social classes are created from it: slaves and servants are usually nothing but people who owe Debt to their masters. Debt in Gubat Banwa is a social value and mechanic to show how much leverage you have over someone or how much leverage someone has on you. You usually gain Debt to someone when they do something for you, such as give you an item, grant you protection, food, or even interact with you romantically.

Debt Actions The following Debt Actions must follow the fiction. An important note on this is that both Non-Player Characters can also gain Debt from Kadungganan, which means they can also influence you with Debt.

A Kadungganan cannot have more Debt to a single entity than [their Legend + 1].For NPCs, this is equal to [their Arc + 2]. (Example: if you at Legend 2, you can only have up to 3 Debt from a single being. Legend 2 Bakong can only have up to 3 Debt to Sampong Baha). If a Kadungganan ever gains more Debt to another than their Legend, they do not gain Debt anymore and lose 1 Honor instead. You can accrue (or owe) Debt not just from a person, but also even from organizations, communities, groups, or even ideals and convictions. Debt to a conviction means that that Conviction can manipulate you by using Debt. Using Debt When you wish to pull on your Debts, spend 1 of their Debts and choose 1 below: 0 You can ask them to do a single thing. If they choose not to, they give you another Debt. If they give any more Debt, they must do that thing.

Accruing Debt

0 If you’re attacking a target that owes you, gain 1 Hit.

When a character does an entity a solid, help them when they’re in dire straits, give them gifts, or otherwise both parties agree that one of them owes the other... the character gains the Debt from the entity they did a solid for, marked as X Owes Me, with X being the character.

0 If you’re defending against a target that owes you, gain 1 Defend.

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PLAY

Paying Off Debts

Transferring Debt

When you wish to pay off your Debts, speak with the person you wish to pay off. They can choose one from below:

When you wish to transfer the Debt someone owes to you to someone else, say your reason and how much Debt you wish to transfer, and then transfer that much Debt that the person owes to you to the other person. You can use this to feasibly gain goodwill from others, as Debt can also be used as a form of currency in the Isles.

0 They can ask you to do something for you. 0 They can ask something from you that you must pay.

If you do it, the one you have Debt to discards 1 of your Debt to them. Alternatively, you can spend 1 Honor to cancel out 1 Debt to them.

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PLAY

Downtime Downtime is exactly that: times of respite. You can only go into Downtime when you are not venturing: you must not be in a Raid, and you must be in a Place of Peace. In Downtime, you can do up to 2 Downtime Actions. You do not need to use up all your Downtime Actions, these are simply suggestions. If you wish to freely roleplay, otherwise known as freeplay, during Downtime, feel free! Places of Peace are rare in Gubat Banwa. Additionally, Downtime Events still should follow the fiction: you should feasibly be able to do the Downtime Event you want to do in the Place of Peace you’re in.

Your Legend Grows Downtime is where you find rest and your deeds catch up to you, as well as when you can train yourself. When the Warband (or you, if playing Solo) enters Downtime, check the list below. Mark each one that is true: 0 We have done something that furthers our glory. 0 We have attained Victory in Violence. 0 We have found a truth about the world. 0 We have proven our Convictions even to our detriment. 0 We have performed a great deed for someone we care for, we work for, or we respect.

If you mark 3+, unmark all the milestones and the Warband’s or Kadungganan’s Legend Grows: they advance by 1 Legend. If they mark 1-2 only, keep those marked so that there is a greater chance of them advancing in Legend next Downtime. When your Legend Grows, gain the following benefits: 0 Gain 2 new Techniques from any Discipline. 0 Add +1 to any of your Alignments (max 6). 0 Add 1 point to your Martial Abilities (max 7). 0 Gain an Anting-Anting at Legend 1, 3, 5, 7. You can gain Anting-Anting out in the world. You have 2 Anting-Anting Slots at Arc 1, 3 at Arc 2, and 4 at Arc 3. You cannot equip more Anting-Anting than you have Slots.

You can keep playing past Legend 8, though you do not gain more Legends. Instead, every time you would grow in Legend, you instead gain a new Technique. However, going into Violence, remember that you cannot have more than 10 Techniques equipped out of Downtime.

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PLAY

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PLAY

Downtime Actions Mingle

Market

You go out and meet someone you want to meet. This can either be someone you already know or someone you haven’t met before. When meeting with someone in this way, make sure it makes sense for them to be there in your area.

You travel to the settlement’s marketplace, looking for something specifically. State what you’re looking for, but you must roll an Alignment then look below:

If it’s someone you haven’t met before, roll a d6.

On 1-2 Hits, choose 1 below, On 3+ Hits, you get the item no strings attached. On no Hits, choose 2 below. 0 The Item is not exactly what you thought it would be.

0 1 – They are fiercely hostile to you.

0 The Item took a bit more haggling to get. You owe someone powerful: give them your Debt, meaning you owe them something. The Umalagad can choose to hide who this is.

0 2 – They are wary of you. 0 3-4 – They are neutral: they don’t know you yet.

0 Getting the Item took a lot of time. You can only gain the Item when you next return to Downtime.

0 5 – They are receptive to you. 0 6 – They are enthusiastic in meeting you.

0 The Item is dangerous somehow, physically: it might blow up, or corrupt you.

Town Talk

0 The Item is dangerous societally: you have attracted dangerous attention.

Go around and listen to the town talk. This can also be used to poke your nose somewhere where it doesn’t belong, or somehow be a fly on a wall for some important information. Use this to find information, but spiritual knowledge can only be found through meditation or if there are spiritual leaders in the area (balyan, sages, guro, panditas, saints, priests, and the like.)

Hunt Whether with the datu or not, you can go hunting for food and game. This is usually for ritual sacrifices and items for a Feast. Make an appropriate Cast as to where you’re hunting (or fishing). With an appropriate difficulty depending on what you’re trying to hunt. Each Kadungganan on the hunt makes a Cast.

State your method and what information you’re looking for and then cast the Crocodile’s Teeth.

Full Success: Gain 2 hunting loot.

Full Success: You get info.

Partial Success: You find 1 hunting loot but you lose something: an item, your Conviction (change it), someone’s Debt to you, something important to you.

Partial Success: You get info but attract unwanted attention. Failure: You do not find what you were looking for, but perhaps you find some other information.

Failure: You attract unwanted attention, either the spirits of the forest or the wrath of the gods.

Change Discipline

If you choose not to give any of your hunting spoil to the gods of the forest that you hunted in, you incur the wrath of the gods, which will befall you at the worst possible time.

Other than a specific story beat, you can also willingly change your Discipline by using this Downtime Event. As always, keep in mind that switching a style also means having to recalibrate muscle memories, as well as having to deal with any fallouts from your previous guro. Most Disciplines require a Guro to learn, which sometimes only come when you have enough Honor for the Guro to find you worth it to teach.

Doing this Event with royalty is a popular way of bonding with them: Hunting with Chiefs and Kings is a popular pastime in the islands, and is an important way for a datu to showcase his skill, as well as his warrior vassals to prove both their loyalty and their strength to their ruler.

When you Change Disciplines, choose a new Discipline and take that Discipline’s Traits and Inflict Violences. You keep any Technique that you already know. However, you must already have a Technique from that Discipline to change into it.

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PLAY Dance With Hearts and Thoughts When you want to spend some intimate time with someone, play it out. You, the other party, or the Umalagad sets the scene of where it takes place. Once the scene and context have been laid out, one of the participants in the dance chooses 1 from below. Once they’ve chosen and it has been resolved, move to the other participant and they get to choose 1 below. 0 Ask them a hard question. This should lead to an incharacter conversation. Hard question is of course contextual, but it should be whatever either the one being asked or both of the characters in the conversation don’t want to ask or hear. 0 Recall something they did before. This can be an event during a venture, leading to an in-character conversation. 0 Bring up a topic. This can be any topic: the warlord you killed in your last violent encounter, the new weapon you created, the meaning of debt, if love is real, etc. Try to bring up topics that will bring your character into entanglements. 0 Reveal a vulnerable part of you. Show them something you don’t usually show people. A soft side of you. Perhaps your love for music, or a natural affinity to dogs. Whatever it is, it should be something that changes their perception of you.

Once both participants have chosen, move on to the Climax of the scene. During the climax, both of the participants choose 1 from below, whichever makes most sense according to the ongoing fiction. 0 Things get heated. An argument erupts. Things don’t look good for the both of you. Play out how you resolve this. If you don’t, that’s still okay. 0 Things get hot. Something good happened along the way. Suddenly one of you is pinned against the wall, staring at each other, feeling each other’s hot breath. Play out how this ends. 0 Things get soft. The participants open up, becoming emotional and finally, accepting whatever comes out of the scene. Play this out to find out what happens. 0 Things work out. The scene ends up fruitful for both participants: maybe they find a new resolve, change their conviction, they find a new bond, or maybe they just learn something new about each other in general. Play it out to find out what it is.

After the Climax, both characters give each other Debt, no matter how it goes down. According to the fiction, this might create another Complication.

0 Irritate them. Do something bad, something they don’t like. They get to tell you what it is they do that they don’t like.

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PLAY Retrain You can reevaluate one of your own Techniques. If you do, spend a downtime Action to change any number of your Techniques into the same number of Techniques of your choice (retraining 3 Techniques means you replace 3 Techniques). Keep in mind the prerequistes of each Technique. Dive Into Complications Choose yourself and two more people. Following the fiction, the three of you fall into a Complication. Define what it is. The context of your Complication might have been because of something that happened outside of Downtime. Feast When going into a feast, you can sometimes choose to hold the feast itself, in which case you might get some prospects and connections. Whatever happens in a Feast, roll a d10 1.

You find someone that is interested in you, and they might give you help.

2.

You drank a bit too much. Something unfortunate happened during the Feast, tell the group what it is.

3.

You impressed or helped a person or a group of people: you know them now, and they give you their Debt.

4.

Someone helped you during the Feast. Give them your Debt. What happened? Who were they?

5.

You traded with another person: give up one of your items or equipment and get another one of equal value (ie. If you give up a commodity in that area, you gain something that is also a commodity in that area).

6.

You attract attention that you really didn’t want. What is this attention? How is it a detriment to you?

7.

You blasphemed or otherwise offended an important person during the feast. Who was it? You must make amends: you gain their Debt.

8.

You did something you immediately regret to someone in particular. What was it? Give them Debt.

9.

You revealed something to someone that you should not have revealed anything to. What is it and who?

10. You have no idea how but you are suddenly entrapped in obligations with another person from the feast. Perhaps it is marriage, perhaps it is work. Whatever it is, deal with it.

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PLAY Raids Raids are an integral part of a Kadungganan’s life. Raids are bursts of action and drama that have you traveling deeper into a place that you are Raiding to gain wealth, treasure, something important, or prestige. Why you’re doing it is up to you. Raids are the equivalent of dungeon delving in Gubat Banwa: structured approaches to journeying into dangerous places. Usually these raids are other settlements, but sometimes larger raids can take place in mass ritual burial cemeteries, ancient forests, cave complexes, cities, and even heaven and hell themselves. Dungeons and large ancient abandoned temples of course exist: the constant cycles of violence create ruin after ruin that pock the islands. Roll a d8 if you need inspiration on where the Raid will take place. 1 – Settlement. A small settlement, usually an easy Raid. Sometimes these can be ruins, places where undead or yawa walk. 2 – Large Town. A larger settlement, with various datu within. Usually an average raid. 3 – Abandoned Cave Complex. Ancient demons and monsters walk within. Usually average. 4 – Mass Burial Complex. Starts above ground and usually ends up underground or even within mountain cliffsides. Usually average, and usually encounter Undead. 5 – Ancient Forest. Forests are filled with gods and other spirit societies. Usually average, and filled with Spirits. 6 – City. An even larger settlement, filled with many goods. Might not be a metropole, but close. Hard Raids, usually, but might not have a lot of combat encounters. 7 – Metropole. You are raiding one of the largest settlements in The Sword Isles, the centers of political and economic power. Would-be empires and states. Very hard raids. 8 – Heaven or Hell. You travel using skybarges into the depths of the earth or the heights of the sky. The hardest raids to do, and usually one that will never go well, even if you achieve your goal.

Before going on a Raid, you must dictate your Raiding Objective. This is almost always singular. Some examples are below! You can even roll a d10 on it. 1-2 Wealth. You’re looking for as much wealth as possible, and the objective area has it. 3-4 People. You want to recruit as much people as possible, and you must do it by force by killing their leader. Maybe perhaps you want to liberate the people from a tyrannical leader. 5-6 Revenge. This is a revenge raid. You want to kill and destroy as much as possible. 7-8 Trial. You’re doing this to prove something to yourself or someone important to you, and you must get something from the objective area. 9-10 Artifact or VIP. You’re looking for a legendary object, or a particularly important person. Raids are a gauntlet of Encounters, both combat and noncombat, that a Umalagad puts you through to test your mettle. Put down a Raiding Moon. A larger Moon for a longer Raid. Each crescent represents an encounter that must be surmounted. A failed encounter or Consequences puts down a Tooth, which encircles the Moon. When the Moon is encircled by three Teeth, the Moon is consumed, and the Raid ends. The raiding warband must retreat or suffer Consequences. Commonly this represents reinforcements arriving, supplies running out, warriors getting exhausted, or the raided village finding a second wind. Random Encounters (d12) 1-3

A Non-Martial Encounter

4-5

A Martial Encounter

6-7

Something interesting.

8-9

A twist in the Raid, something that might upend the understanding of the Raid, or recontextualize the objective.

10

An item, or treasure. Perhaps Anting-Anting.

11

Penultimate. You find something harrowing. Something that is connected to the goal perhaps.

12

Objective Area. This is where the raid will end. It might have a boss encounter, or you might simply find what you’re looking for. Play it out

Optional Rule: No Tactical Violence

If you do not like the prospect of playing on a grid and wish solely to engage with Gubat Banwa through their Skills and Moons. They can gain Techniques and choose Disciplines as normal, but they can use Techniques to gain advantages in combat if it gives them a benefit in fiction. You can choose how to handle combat: often this should be handled by a Dueling Moon between teams. But what about the Techniques, etc.? Each square in Gubat Banwa is an abstraction of space. When in abstract combat, you can assign a fictionally appropriate unit of distance for each square (for example, 5 ft. = 1 sq.) to be able to translate distances easily.

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III: Violence “Violence for violence’s sake is not the rule of beasts but the nature of divinity.”

Gubat Banwa is a game of rapid kinetic martial arts, violent sorcery, heartrending convictions and bouts of will. Warriors that channel gods face sorcerers that master black arts, martial artists who have unlocked a new form of cultivation clash swords with those that perfect the night alchemies. When the crocodile’s teeth are cast, convictions are unsheathed, and steel sparks: the Umalagad must declare:

“Only Violence Can Save This World. The thunderbolt strikes: Rejoice in the Glory of Combat!” 55

VIOLENCE BATTLES ARE A MAJOR PART OF GUBAT BANWA. PARTICULARLY IT DEALS IN MARTIAL ARTS, AS VIOLENCE IS HOW ONE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD HERE, AND IN GUBAT BANWA THAT IS VERY OFTEN PHYSICAL VIOLENCE. VIOLENCE IN GUBAT BANWA IS STYLISH, BALLISTIC, RHYTHMIC AND NECESSARY. Fights in Gubat Banwa is an abstracted affair, played out in a grid, crafted in such a way to model the chaos and kinetic quickness and back-and-forth of martial arts films and wuxia novels. It is not meant to be realistic or a representation of physics in the game world. Gubat Banwa’s combat system is known as the Thundering Tactics Battle System (TTB): it focuses on blisteringly quick martial arts in a grid environment, where every attack is a flurry of blows and every defense are perfect parries, all framed by the steady of beat of thundering drums known as the Rhythm, meant to evoke the war gongs played during combat in Classical Southeast Asia. Only the thundering gongs reach the Gods. TTB uses a dice pool for attacks and defenses. This is to mechanically represent the fictional ballistic exchange of attacks and parries: each Attack Tooth is an attack launched, each Defense Tooth is a parry or dodge attempted. Many special effects are also generated by the die results (such as inflicting Stun for every 8+ on the Attack Teeth). This represents how well each hit is: a 6+ is a Hit, but an 8+ is a particularly effective hit that discombobulates the target. Attacks are commitments, exchanges, a proving of conviction. TTB has small HP pools, representing the number of clean hits you can take before succumbing to the soul-and-body-wracking martial arts. Martial Artists must actively be defending (their Postures and Resistances) to be able to survive attacks. TTB is not needed to play Gubat Banwa. It is there purely for those that want to interface with it. If you want to run quick combats within the system, using Moons and Casting the Crocodile’s Teeth should be more than enough for this, and the use of fiction. In general, one wants to use Tactical Martial Arts for either narratively important or dramatic fights, or if your table enjoys tactical grid-based combat.

The Rule of Rosy Gold

Rejoice In The Glory of Combat Put down the battlegrid (often a 10x10 to 20x20 grid, the default is 16x16). Mark out a starting zone that is 4 squares long and 2 squares wide. Then, each Kadungganan places down their token in the starting zone. Then, mark out another starting zone (up to 3, as is proper in the fiction) of the same size. The Umalagad puts down a number of enemies equal to the intended Violence Score (p. 76). 0 No fighters of opposite sides should be closer than 6 squares from each other. 0 Gubat Banwa uses the square grid, but one can use hexes without problem, or even play this without a grid or a battle map.

Objectives After declaring battle, decide what fictionally makes sense as the Objectives of the battle. On top of that, you may make 0-3 Sub-Objectives, and each one must be tied to a specific reward (again, must follow from Fiction). This might be: a temporary Boon for the next fight, an AntingAnting, a Consumable, some sort of benefit to the narrative. Some are some example Objectives: 0 Kill a target 0 Stop a ritual from being performed 0 Break down the stone wall 0 Get all allies to the specified location area 0 Activate all traps or contraptions 0 Incapacitate the enemy team 0 Convince them to take your side 0 Ensure an escape route

This is the Rosy Gold Rule, so called because it is the Bulawan Rule tinged with the color of blood. It is this: even in violence, fiction first. This means if something happens that doesn’t make sense in the fiction, that doesn’t happen. Err on the side of fiction when making proper rulings. The mechanics in this game will not cover every single fictional possibility.

The Battle Meditation Assume open information in Violence. In Fiction, this is the Kadungganan’s Battle Meditation, their inherent grasp on violence, intuitively analyzing and predicting their enemy’s moves, even when outnumbered. Open information is necessary in co-op or solo play. This means every single mechanic in the map should be known or told before the fight starts or when relevant, including NPC placements and gambits. Stealth might mean the Kadungganan know there are warriors there, but they do not know where exactly.

0 Survive until end of Strike 6 0 Protect a particular important person or thing 0 Destroy a target's ship or armor

Loss Condition With all of that done, the Umalagad then sets the Loss Condition. Usually this is something like: “If all the Kadungganan are Posture-Broken or Defeated at the same time”. Some example Loss Conditions are shown below. Whatever it is, if the Loss Conditions are met, the Kadungganan are considered as having lost the battle, and suffer consequences afterwards. Defeated Kadungganan lose all Conviction they currently have. 0 A leader is killed. 0 A place is breached. 0 An enemy falls in love with an ally. 0 An ally reaches the enemy. 0 An ally attacks an enemy.

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VIOLENCE Martial Abilities

Styles

Each Martial Ability (except HP) starts at 3, and you begin with 2 points distribute among them during Character Creation, and then gain +1 every time your Legend Grows.

Each fighter has a Style, which is one from 5. Raiders deal damage and move quickly, Sharpshooters deal damage from afar and blasts large areas, Sentinels take the heat and take damage, Witches inflict debuffs and forced movement, and Mediums support their allies and heal.

BRV (Bravery): Represents for physical attacks and weapon attacks. Always rolled against POS. FTH (Faith): Represents mystic attacks, from gods, from magick, from spirits, from the soul. Always rolled against RES. POS (Posture): Parries, deflects, and dodges. Always used to defend against Bravery Attacks. RES (Resistance): Represents enduring the strength of explosions, magical lances, mental trauma, and soul-rending strikes. Always used to defend against Faith Attacks. SPD (Speed): Represents how quick you can travel across the battlefield. SPD is the number of squares you can move when you Stride. HP (Hit Points): Is how many hits you can take before going down. This is dictated by your current Discipline.

The Rhythm Gubat Banwa has a turn order known as The Rhythm. The steady beat of war drum that dictates who Fulminates (“Turns” in other games), letting their Glory explode through sword and song. The Rhythm is split into Strikes (rounds in other games), because to make a gong sound you must strike it. At the start of violence, you begin at the 1st Strike. At the beginning of every Strike, an NPC Acts first, then a Kadungganan, then an NPC, then so on and so forth, until all fighters have Fulminated. Then, that Strike ends and a new Strike begins. This goes on until the Objective or Defeat Conditions are met. Eg: NPC > Kadungganan > NPC > Kadungganan, and so on. NPCs always Fulminate first on every Strike, even if they Fulminated last on the previous Strike. A fighter may Fulminate once a Strike. If all fighters of a side have Fulminated, but there are still fighters on the opposing side that still must Fulminate, a fighter of that side may Fulminate again. No two fighters of the same side may Fulminate consecutively. The Strike ends when all fighters have Fulminated at least once. If you want to place a hard cap on fights, very often you can make this a Defeat Condition: “Victory is not achieved by the 8th Strike”. When it is your side’s turn to Fulminate, talk amongst your side who the most optimal fighter to Fulminate will be, as a tactical consideration. When you Fulminate, you follow the following steps.

Example: Suppose there are 3 Kadungganan (Sam’baha, Dagna, and Bakong) against 5 NPCs. When the Strike begins, the first NPC fulminates, then Sam’baha, then the 2nd NPC, then Dagna, then the 3rd NPC, then Bakong, then the 4th NPC, then Dagna decides to Fulminate. Then the 5th NPC goes, and then Sam’baha decides to Fulminate afterwards. Then, we move on to the next Strike.

START OF FULMINATION

At the start of your Fulmination, end any effects that end on Start of Fulmination, and then perform any effects that can be done during Start of Fulmination.

BEATS

Leap [1]: Rush equal to half of your SPD, but only in a straight line. If you move across any kind of terrain, you can jump off of it to rush 2 from the terrain, but you must end in normal terrain.

You have 3 Beats on when you Fulminate. Beats are units of effort and time. Most things are 1 Beat, but sometimes it might cost more if it takes more time, usually put in Brackets [X]. DEFLECT [1]: Bank 1 Defend. If not used before start of your next Fulmination, it goes away. End your Fulmination. INFLICT VIOLENCE [1]: Unleash one of your Discipline’s Inflict Violences, the fundamental strikes of your art. INTERACT [1]: Interact with an item you have. You can also use this as a general technique for any improvised actions (such as sharing items, etc.)

END OF FULMINATION

Make Vulnerable [1]: Spend 1 Debt from an adjacent fighter and force them to choose: suffer Sunder or they gain 2 Debt to you at the end of Violence. Raise [1]: Heal 1 to one Critical ally adjacent to you. Surge [1]: Heal 1/4 of your HP and then gain +1 to POS and RES until the start of your next Fulmination. 1/Violence. Shove [1]: Push 1 an adjacent fighter or object. Stride [1]: Move a number of squares up to your SPD.

End and/or perform any effects that end on at the end of your Fulmination > Discard 1 stack of each Mark, Status Effect and Ability Modifier > Then your Fulmination ends and you can only Fulminate again on the next Strike.

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VIOLENCE Defenses

The Violence Cast

Similar to Casting The Crocodile’s Teeth, when you make an Attack, you perform the Violence Cast.

When you make an Attack, collect a number of d10s (Attack Teeth) equal to the indicated Martial Ability (BRV or FTH).

Then, collect a number of d8s (Defense Teeth) equal to the appropriate defense (BRV targets POS, FTH targets RES.)

Each attack targets a Defense. There are two in all, which can be boosted and strengthened. 0 Posture. You dip, dodge, deflect, and parry and maintain physical tenacity and composure. Used against Bravery Attacks. 0 Resistance. You steel your willpower, maintain mental composure, and dig for a deeper strength, one of the soul. Used against Faith Attacks.

A Note on Combined Attacks If making a melee or ranged attack from an Elevation higher than the target, you have vantage, gain +1d to the Attack Teeth.

Combo Breaker: If this is the second attack in a Fulmination, suffer -2d. If this is the 3rd or higher attack in a Fulmination, suffer -3d.

Some attacks deal a combined Bravery+Faith. Simply use the higher of POS or RES to defend against this.

If making a melee attack against an adjacent target that you are flanking, gain Sharpness.

Add any more bonuses from effects.

You can suffer Hits outside of attacks, which are usually sure Hits, unless you have Defends stocked up as well. Defends and Hits cancel each other out, so when you use a Defend to cancel a Hit, that Defend is gone.

If attacking a target behind cover, or attacking an adjacent target with a ranged attack, the attack suffers Dullness. Attack Teeth: d10s that come up as 6+ are Hits (5+ with Sharpness, 7+ with Dullness). 10s are 2 Hits. Defense Teeth: d8s that come up as 6+ are Defends. Defends cancel out Hits, 1-for-1. 0 If the attack has Skewering, discard the first Defend result. 0 If the target has Eviscerate, discard 1 Defend. 0 If the attacker has Unbalance, discard the first Hit. 0 True Hits cannot be cancelled by Defends.

Hits and Defends Outside of Attacks

Attack Elements After cancelling, find the final result. For each Hit, reduce the target’s HP by 1. 0 If the attack has Overwhelming, each Hit reduces the target by 2 HP. 0 If the attack scores 0 Hits after all cancelling, gain a Thunderbolt Token.

When making a Violence Cast, imagine every Attack Tooth as an actual attack launched: a sword swing, a syllable of an incantation. Every Hit is something that strikes home. Every Defense Tooth is an attempt at a block or a parry: a raising of a shield, a meditation upon the diamond body, a maneuvering to dodge, a sword clanging against steel. Every Defend cancelling a Hit is a successful block, every Hit that gets through is a breach of defense, drawing blood.

There are five damage elements, that showcase the numerous ways of maiming that martial artists in Gubat Banwa are capable of. These elements are intertwined with the various elemental philosophies of the cultures in Gubat Banwa. 0 Fire is the scalding flames of blazes, the heat of gun powder and bullets, blinding lights, the radiance of the stars and the sun. These light flammable terrain on fire. 0 Water is intertwined with water, representing cutting jets of water, sundering poisons and acids, goopy marshes, and even the deep dark of the unknown abyss, the chilling gloom, and all the spirits within. 0 Air is the howling winds, the boom of thunder and war gongs, the devastation of storms, the cackling fulmination of lightning, the flight of arrows and slicing of daggers as well as the heavens and the clouds themselves, and all the spirits within. 0 Metal is the harmony of water and fire, the heart of weaponry, the unmoving being of ambition and strength, the impact of bludgeoning steel. Metal in the Sword Isles is often connected to Gold, and also represents lightning (as it conducts it) as well as strength of emotion and mental state. Metal damage can also represent damage against the mind. 0 Earth is the element that represents all the living creatures upon the land, which includes Folk, trees, mountains, and all, since everything has a spirit. It represents even the invisible beings deep in the mountains, the darkness of the divine wilds, and the dead things deep below, because what else is death but another phase of life?

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Violent Glossolalia 0 Ability Modifiers: Abilities can be modified (ie. BRV+1, POS+2, etc.). Ability modifiers are discarded every Fulmination as well, and can be stacked, but they do not stack intensity. Only duration. 0 Adjacent: Every square that touches your square’s sides and corners (all 8 squares around you). 0 Ally: Any fighters on your side. 0 Area Attacks: Attacks that target a large number at a time. Does not benefit from vantage or flanking. 0 Area of Effect (AoE): Any burst, blast, path, or line patterns. 0 Block: Block is temporary hit points, and do not stack, simply take the highest instance. When you gain Block, all hits against you reduces Block first. 0 Burning Terrain: Starting a Fulmination or moving into Burning Terrain inflicts 1 Hit on the target. 0 Chasm: A square that is greater than -5 Elevation. Moving into a Chasm has a 65% of you staying in an adjacent square instead. Otherwise, you fall into the Chasm, suffer 6 True Hits, and are removed from play until the start of your next Fulmination. 0 Cleanse X: Remove all X Status Effects. 0 Close: Every square orthogonal to you (cardinal directions) on the same Elevation. 0 Conditioning: When you are attacked by an attack with an element you have conditioning to, gain +1 Defend. 0 Cover: Cover is a kind of terrain. When line of effect would go through cover terrain before you, the attack suffers Dullness. 0 Combo Breaker: A fighter’s second attack in a Fulmination suffers -2d. Their 3rd attack and beyond suffers -3d. 0 Dangerous Terrain: Moving into Dangerous Terrain inflicts 1 Hit on the target. 0 Difficult Terrain: It costs +1 Speed to move into Difficult Terrain. 0 Dullness: You only gain Hits on 7+ on your Attack Teeth. Cancels out Sharpness. 0 Element: Each attack has an element: either fire, water, metal, air, or earth. 0 Enemy: Any fighter that is not on your side. 0 Fighter: Any creature in the battlefield with HP, actively fighting. 0 Flying: You ignore terrain and elevation when moving, inflict Dullness against Melee Attacks against you, have Vantage. Lose Flying when you have Daze, Unbalance, Juggle, or Stun. 0 Flanking: When you and an ally are on squares that are on opposite ends of a fighter, you are considered flanking them. Gain Sharpness on melee attacks against them.

0 Elevation: Higher or lower squares. Verticality is important in Gubat Banwa. There can be no more than +5 Elevation or -5 Elevation in a map. Higher than that is removed from play, lower than that is a Chasm. Moving into a square that is higher than you costs +1 Speed per Elevation level. Moving into a square that is 3+ Elevation levels lower than you inflicts True Hits equal to the number of Elevation levels you move down. 0 Heal X: Heal X amounts of HP. 0 Marks: Usually a fighter can only have 1 Mark on them at a time. Newer Marks supercede older marks. Indefinite marks stay until the end of the scene. Often marks have X attached to them, which is the duration of the Mark. 0 Object: Any thing in the battlefield with Durability (equal to 5 x Size). 0 Overwhelming: Every Hit reduces 2 HP instead of just 1. 0 Ranges From Elevation: All effects from a higher elevation have a bonus to their range equal to the difference of Elevation between them and the target. 0 Removed From Play: When you are removed from play, you remove your fighter from the battlefield and they cannot be targeted. 0 Rush: Special movement that doesn’t trigger any effects, as well as ignores Difficult Terrain. Commonly written as Rush X with X being the number of squares that can be moved. 0 Sharpness: Every 5+ on your Attack Teeth is a Hit. Cancels out Dullness. 0 Skewering: Discard the 1st Defend from the Defense Teeth. 0 Square: The abstract spacial units of a battlefield, representative of the holy five point shape. The scale of how large a square is can change according to the battlefield. 0 Staggered: If you hit 1/2 of your HP or below, you are Staggered. 0 Summon: Any creature summoned by a summoner. Usually has 4 HP, and shares Abilities with the Summoner. 0 Target: The chosen target of an effect, can be a fighter or an object. 0 Terrain: Characteristics of a square. 0 Thunderbolt Tokens [p. 35]: Spend any number of these to turn a non-Hit or non-Defend into a Hit or Defend, before cancelling. Gain whenever you do something dramatic or badass. 0 Vantage: When attacking a target on a lower height with a melee or ranged attack, gain +1d. 0 Vulnerability: When you are attacked by an attack with an element you have vulnerability to, suffer +1 Hit. 0 Water Terrain: Moving into Water Terrain costs +1 Speed. While in water terrain you are have water and air vulnerability, but fire conditioning.

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VIOLENCE

Status Effects Statuses change a fighter’s state. You can have more than 1 of the same Status at a time. Having more than 1 of the same Status lets them stack. When you discard a Status, you simply discard one from the stack, thus making it so that Statuses have duration. Some statuses even have intensified effects: multiple Fray banes might inflict multiple True Hits at the end of your Fulmination. Statuses are split into two: Boons are positive effects while Banes are negative effects.

Boons

Banes

Float

Ignore all terrain.

Protect

You have 1 Defend against all sources of Hits. Short for “regeneration”. Every start of Fulmination, you heal 1. Cannot be a valid target for any melee or ranged attack. Immediately lose this when dealing or suffering damage. You cannot be forcibly moved unless you choose to be.

Regen Stealth Stability

Bleed Daze Eviscerate Fray Juggle Provoke Slow

Stop Sunder Stun Unbalance

You are deeply wounded. When you start your Fulmination, suffer 1 True Hit per Bleed stack. You can only target close fighters. Lose all Stances. Discard the 1st Defend from your Defense Teeth. Suffer 1 True Hit at the end of Fulmination per Fray stack. You lose all POS and Stances while Juggled. All your attacks must include the fighter that last provoked you as a target and you cannot move further away from them. You cannot Fulminate until all other fighters in the field have already Fulminated, not including other fighters with Slow, and you also cannot Fulminate more than once in a Strike. You cannot move voluntarily. Lose all POS, RES, Conditioning, and Immunity. You have -1 Beat on your Fulmination. Cannot flank, lose all Stances and cannot take new ones, and you discard the 1st Hit from your Attack Teeth.

Hit Points, Death, and Dying Every Kadungganan begins all fights with full HP. Outside of Violence, Kadungganan can only die if it is fully agreed on by the player and every other player, and only if it is dramatically appropriate. However, intensely bad consequences can cause Death or turn your Kadunggnan into an NPC. When an attack would bring a Kadungganan to 0 HP, they simply stay at 0 HP. While at 0 HP, they are Critical. While Critical, they can Fulminate as normal. However, if an attack should bring them to below 0 HP, then the attacker gets to inflict a Deathblow on the Kadungganan, making them Defeated. Note that a Deathblow can only be dealt by an attack: a Kadungganan cannot be Defeated by nonAttack Hits. NPCs are different. Very often once they hit 0 HP, the Kadungganan immediately gets to inflict a Deathblow on them, and they can be Defeated by Non-Attack Hits. Defeated means you are removed from play until the end of Violence. Afterwards, your Kadungganan suffers an Impair or Wound Consequence. Defeated doesn’t inherently mean death. You could perhaps be turned into a servant by the enemies (a far more likely outcome in the Sword Isles, where manpower is the premium currency).

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VIOLENCE AREA OF EFFECT DIAGRAMS

Burst X is every square from an Origin Point. If no range then origin point is caster. To the

left is an example of a range 3 burst 1.

Blast X is how wide and tall in squares the box is, but one square must be adjacent to the origin point. To the right is an example of a blast 2.

Line Shaped like a straight line from the origin point, can even be diagonal, but it can only fire directly straight from the origin point and not any other way. If the starting point is adjacent, then the rest of the line must continue down that adjacent path in a straight line. To the left is a Line 4.

Path Like Line, it is a Line, but can be snaked around (even diagonally) as long as all squares of a path are touching each other. To the right is a Path 4.

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VIOLENCE

Advanced Violence Rules 62

VIOLENCE

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VIOLENCE Movement

When you are forcibly moved, you are just forcibly moved once, even if you are forcibly moved more than one square.

All Techniques that let you leave your square are counted as movement. When you choose to move, that is voluntary movement. When you are forced to move, that is forced movement. The most common form of voluntary movement is the Stride. 0 Moving into adjacent squares costs 1 Speed. Diagonal movement is counted the same. 0 You can move through, but not end in, ally squares. You cannot move through enemy squares. 0 You cannot move diagonally across blocking terrain that fills its space, unless you are getting on top of the blocking terrain. This generally means you cannot move diagonally through corners.

Chance Die If anything states that something “Has an X% chance of happening”, that is a Chance Die. Roll a d100 and try to roll equal to the percent or lower. Example: 50% chance of gaining Block 2. You gain the Block 2 if you rolled a 50 or lower on the Chance Die. Generally, if you have chances from more than one source, you simply take the highest chance.

Hostile Actions

0 Moving into a square of higher elevation costs extra Speed equal to the difference in Elevation (example: moving from an Elevation +1 to an Elevation +3 costs +2 Speed).

Hostile Actions are all actions that would inflict detrimental effects against the target, such as dealing damage, inflicting debuffs, or forceful movement.

Forced Movement

Valid Targets

When you are told to forcibly move a target, it will very commonly say how many squares. It will commonly say push X, pull X, and slide X. You can move the target up to X.

You can only target other fighters, objects, other squares in the environment, or the ground. You must have line of sight and appropriate line of effect. Unless otherwise stated, all actions that need a target must have Valid Targets.

A single instance of forced movement that targets multiple fighters (ie. slide 2 up to two targets in range 3) is still a single instance of forced movement. Therefore colliding them against each other will immediately stop their forced movement and you cannot keep smashing them against each other. Elevation: You can forcibly move a target up into a higher square as long as you have enough forced movement for it. Otherwise, they collide with the higher Elevation. Example: you push an adjacent fighter by 3 squares. You can push them 3 squares horizontally, or 3 squares diagonally up, letting them land on a square that is up to 3 squares high. However you must have enough forced movement to be able to do this: if you Push 3, you cannot push them 2 squares horizontally, and then up onto a square that is +3 Elevation: you only have 1 square of forced movement left. Difficult Terrain: Forced Movement ignores Difficult Terrain. 0 Push - Move the target forcibly away from you in a straight line. You cannot push a target to the side, it must always be away. In essence, when you push a target, you every square they move into must not be of equal range or closer to you. 0 Pull - Move the target forcibly into a square closer to you. This can be diagonally towards you, but not laterally just to the side. 0 Slide - Move the target forcibly in any direction. 0 Collide - A unit collides with a fighter, object, or terrain if they are forcibly moved into it. Colliding with something still counts as moving into that space, but inflicts 1 Hit on you and the target you collide with, and then you stop all movement. Even if you have any leftover forced movement, that ends immediately.

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Willing Targets Some targets might be willing. If this is the case, they can choose to suffer the effect of the Technique or attack immediately.

Line of Sight and Effect You can only target those that you can see with your line of sight, as well as those that you have a clear shot at: your line of effect. Line of Sight is usually blocked by blocking terrain. To find out whether you have Line of Sight or Effect, draw a straight line from one of your corners to the center of the target’s square. If the line touches blocking terrain, then there is no line of sight or effect between you and the target. Enemies of the same size as you, on the same Height as you or higher can block Line of Sight, but allies don’t.

VIOLENCE Range

Area of Effect

Range will specify how far the target of this attack can be. These will be expressed in squares. In general, count ranges the same as movement.

Areas of Effect has four area patterns: Burst, Blast, Line, and Path. Each one counts range as normal. In general, Area of Effect ignores Provoke.

Firing of an attack/effect against a target on a lower Elevation than you gives a +1 square bonus to the range of the effect (if it is not adjacent, melee or close) per Elevation Difference. (Example: Healing someone that is 1 square high, while you’re on a square that is 3 square high, gives you +2 extra range. A range 2 heal becomes range 4.)

If no range is listed in an area of effect (or you do not put it within X squares and whatnot) the origin square of the AoE is the square of the one performing the effect, or the caster.

If it is a [range] and then [area of effect], you choose a square within the specified number of squares from you. That becomes the origin square of the area of effect. Range 1 Burst 2 means the you place the origin point of the burst within 1 square of you. Range 3 Burst 3 means you place it within 3 squares of you. Adjacency: Everywhere within 1 square of you (basically all 8 squares around yours) is considered adjacent to you. This includes all squares with a height difference of 1.

Close: Melee range is every square orthogonal to you (cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west). Someone not on the same height as you is not close to you.

X

X

Counting Ranges When you count ranges, start from a square adjacent to the origin. Count ranges the same as movement. When counting ranges into heights, in general it is treated the same as if they are horizontal. If you want to shoot straight up 3 square, you can do that. If you shoot a fighter that is 3 square far and 2 squares high, you can do that as well. Horizontal range is vertical range.

Area of Effect is blocked by blocking terrain, as it still requires line of effect. This means that blocking terrain can block off an AoE’s effect. 0 Burst X: This is an area that extends to X squares in every direction from the origin, which can either be an origin square or the user. Every square includes height: going up and down. Bursts often include the origin square. 0 Blast X: This is an attack that must have at least 1 square in its area of effect that is adjacent to the origin point. X dictates how large the area is: blast 2 would mean it covers a 2x2 squares area adjacent to the origin point. For example: a rifle technique might be Range 0 Blast 3, which means it affects a 3x3 square area, but one of the squares must be adjacent to the fighter using the technique. The Blast covers a cube area, so a Blast 3 also goes up 3 squares and down 3 squares. 0 Line X: This is an area that fills a single straight line in any direction starting from a square adjacent to its origin point. X is how many squares the line is long. The squares of a Line must be contiguous (sharing a common side or corner, so you can angle the Line diagonally) but you cannot make it so that it “snakes”, it must look like a straight line. You can angle a line so that it targets vertically or diagonally upward. 0 Path X: This is an area that can be placed in any manner as long as at least one square is adjacent to the origin square and all squares are contiguous with each other, sharing at least a path and corner, meaning you can “snake” paths. X means how long the path goes.

Fields Fields are lingering zones in the battlefield, like smoke or changing tides. Fields last until the end of the scene or until overwritten. New fields overwrite older fields on each square. Some fields must be sustained, the creator must actively sustain them by spending the required Technique on their turn.

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VIOLENCE Stances Stances are martial arts forms that unlock true spiritual strength. Stances cannot stack, and when you take upon yourself a Stance that Stance supercedes the old one. Stances will always define when they end.

Falling Moving into a square that is 3+ Elevation levels lower than you inflicts True Hits equal to the number of Elevation levels you move down. Falling damage cannot be reduced in any way.

Vantage When making a melee or ranged attack against a fighter on a lower height, you are considered as having vantage: gain a bonus +1 dice to the Attack Teeth.

Size 2 should be reserved for large beings the size of small pagodas: demigods, young giants or pygmy giants. Size 2 creatures take up 2x2x2 squares on the grid. Size 3 is for powerful, perhaps even legendary and mythical beasts and beings. These fighters take up a huge chunk of the grid, and should be treated with both fear, awe, and grandeur. Creatures like serpent gods, hatred demons, or elder giants. Size 3 creatures take up 3x3x3 squares. Size 4 Are for even larger beings than that. Humongous colossuses, living bodhisattva statues, ancient ruinous giant defense spirits, giant forest gods. They take up 4x4x4 on the battle grid. Size 5 Are for giant wrathful demons, elder gods, fierce dog-lion gods, ancient viscera witches, giant serpents, enormous deer spirits, infested giant demon-boars, and even giant god-bodies. They take up 5x5x5 on the battle grid. However, they can far exceed this height and width in fiction. Size 6 should not be modeled as a single fighter in the battlefield anymore. Instead, section their body parts into different Size 5 fighters on the field.

Size The Sword Isles are filled with warriors of all kinds. More than one culture has traditions that tell the old story: the original inhabitants of the Sword Isles were giants, filled with spiritual power, closer to the gods than mortals. For the most part, most fighters will be Size 1. Size 1 is, as with everything, an abstraction: it can be a small goblin ghoul or a mounted knight upon a rainbow raptor. Size 1 only takes up a single square on the grid. Size 1/2 are smaller beings. Miniature beings: little earth gods, geckos, ants, little lizards, and such. Size 1/2 is anything below 1 square tall and wide. They only take up 1/4 of a square.

Flanking If you and one other ally are standing on both adjacent sides of a fighter, you both gain Sharpness on all melee attacks against the flanked fighter. To find out if you’re flanking, draw a line between your square and the flanking ally’s. If the line crosses at least two sides or corners of the flanked fighter’s square, then they are flanked.

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Size 7+ should not be modeled as a fighter at all. Perhaps instead they are Battlefields on their own that the Kadungganan must damage, or somehow quell. These are truly gargantuan beings. Should be reserved for truly godly beings. Beings of towering, gargantuan bulk: these are crocodiles that cause a change in tides, eagles whose wings block out the sun, turtles that are entire islands on their own, primordial titans, serpents that wind about entire mountains, and gods. Elevation Differences: Larger warriors might have differing heights. They are always considered on the highest elevation that any of their squares is on. They are considered as being on Elevation equal to their Size. (Example: Size 2 is treated as being on +2 Elevation. A Size 2 fighter moving from 0 Elevation to +2 Elevation does not spend extra Speed.)

VIOLENCE Rush Rush is a special kind of movement. It represents acrobatics, lightning fast dodges, wall-bounding kinetics and the like. Rush never triggers effects (unless the effect is specifically triggered by Rush) and ignores Difficult Terrain.

Flying While Flying, you are flying above the battlefield. While you have Flying... 0 All melee attacks against you have Dullness. 0 All your movement ignores Height, Terrain, and you can move through Enemy squares. 0 You have Vantage on all ranged attacks. 0 If you are Unbalance, Juggle, or Stun, you lose Flying.

Teleporting Teleportation is not counted as movement: it is displacement: you remove yourself from your current square and place yourself into the square you choose to be in. This means it does not trigger effects that happen when you move. Teleportation ignores all terrain, and all height.

Immunity Whenever you become Immune to any kind of effect, you cannot suffer that effect any longer, and you remove any existing effects of that kind from you. Immunity ignores even True Hits.

A Note On Styles and Fulmination As a team-based grid combat game, Gubat Banwa has Styles that have skills and abilities that would best benefit the team when they Fulminate in a particular order. In Gubat Banwa it is as follows: Sentinels benefit from moving first, as very often they are the ones that will engage the enemy, applying soft controlling effects to make sure the focus is on them. Witches benefit from moving directly afterwards, to weaken already softened fighters, to move them into proper position, or to bombard them with crippling decisions. Raiders benefit from moving after this, to take advantage of the weakened ranks, breaking weak links, being able to kill those that need to be killed first, as dealing damage and using superior movement to get into positions opened up by Witches and Sentinels is what they are built to do. Sharpshooters benefit from moving later, to be able to pick out those enemies that can now be defeated easily from their positions, or to to take advantage of enemies’ final positions without having to move themselves. Mediums benefit from moving last, to fix any wounds that might have happened, to know the lay of the battlefield near the end of a Strike, and to give proper buffs for next Strike.

Marks Mark effects are usually defined by the ability that gives them. New Marks always overwrite older marks, unless stated that they stack, in which case that mark can coexist with the other marks. When you are Defeated, all your marks on other fighters are lost.

Swimming Water Terrain that has at least -2 Elevation can be swam through and is considered swimmable terrain. When swimming, your SPD is halved, and you are considered as on water terrain, but you can move into any elevation within the swimming terrain as normal without having to spend +1 SPD to move into them. While swimming, you can spend 1 Beat to dive into the water. If you do, you gain Dive: you have +1 to POS/RES, and when you discard a dive, you can rush 2.

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The Battlefield The Battlefield is the third pillar of Gubat Banwa’s combat. So are we part of nature, thus is violence: simply expressions of nature. Therefore the Battlefield plays an important part to every fight. The three aspects of a Battlefield are Terrain, Weather, and Field Traits.

Objects in the Battlefield The battlefield will very often have objects (that are usually also terrain on their own right). These objects will usually define their size, which is the same as fighter sizes. Objects do not have HP but they instead have Durability, which acts the same. When an object is reduced to 0 Durability, it is destroyed: remove it from the field. All Objects, unless stated otherwise, have Durability equal to (5 x Their Size). Outside of combat, follow the fiction. These stats might not matter when trying to destroy some kind of barrier.

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Edges of the Battlefield When creating a battlefield, decide whether the Battlefield’s Edges (that is, the perimeter, the out of bounds area of the battlefield) are either walls or chasms. Check these terrain types on the side. If the wall is broken, it becomes chasms.

VIOLENCE Terrain Terrain is the properties of a square. Some terrain can have the qualities of other terrain, such as Water Terrain being also Difficult Terrain. A single square can have multiple terrain qualities. Blocking Terrain Prevents line of sight, line of effect, and movement. If there is no height associated with Blocking Terrain, assume that it prevents all line of sight, effect, and movement regardless of Elevation. Dangerous Terrain Moving into a dangerous terrain square reduces your HP by 1, 1/Fulmination. Difficult Terrain Moving into a square of difficult terrain costs +1 Speed (moving into an adjacent square costs 2 instead of 1 sq.) Hindering Terrain Prevents movement but not line of sight. Walls Walls don’t take up squares but rather, the sides of squares. Walls count as blocking terrain—stopping line of sight and line of effect. If an attack goes through walls, the wall suffers the damage instead of the fighter in the square behind the wall: you must draw a line from the origin square toward the target. If the line touches the wall in any way, it targets the wall instead. Walls very often only have 1 Durability. Ladders Ladders don’t take up squares similar to walls, but rather the sides of squares. Moving into a square through the side of the square that has a ladder (must be orthogonal, diagonals do not count), does not cost extra SPD if it is on a higher Elevation.

Tall Grass Terrain Moving into tall grass terrain costs +1 Speed. While you’re within the Tall Grass Terrain, all ranged attacks against you suffer -1d. Tall Grass Terrain becomes Burning Terrain if the square or targets within the square suffer a fire attack. Burning Terrain When you start a Fulmination or move into Burning Terrain, suffer 1 True Hit. Burning Terrain is removed if the square or targets within the square suffer an air or water attack. Hazy Terrain All fighters in Hazy Terrain are considered Hidden save for all those within close range of them. Hazy Terrain is removed if the square or targets within the square suffer an Air Attack. Water Terrain Moving into Water Terrain costs +1 Speed. While in water terrain you are have water and air vulnerability, but fire conditioning. Water Terrain has a 45% chance of becoming Frozen Terrain if the square or targets within the square suffer a water attack. Swimmable Terrain As with water terrain, but with the following quirks: When swimming, your SPD is halved, and you are considered as on water terrain, but you can move into any elevation within the swimming terrain as normal without having to spend +1 SPD to move into them. Frozen Terrain

Slope

Moving into Frozen Terrain costs +1 Speed. If you are in a square that becomes Frozen terrain, you become Stop 2. If you suffer a fire attack while on Frozen terrain, you suffer +1 Hit and then the frozen terrain is removed, and you lose the Stop caused by Frozen terrain.

Slope terrain is always higher elevation but does not cost extra speed to move into.

Frozen Terrain is removed if the square or targets within the square suffer a fire attack.

Cover Cover terrain are things like low walls, shrubs, and boulders that fighters can hide behind. Line of effect that crosses cover terrain gives the target cover. Chasms A square that is greater than -5 Elevation. Moving into a Chasm has a 65% of you staying in an adjacent square instead. Otherwise, you fall into the Chasm, suffer 6 True Hits, and are removed from play until the start of your next Fulmination. Flammable Terrain A square that is covered with easily flammable material. if the square or targets within the square suffer a fire attack, the flammable terrain ignites and becomes burning terrain.

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VIOLENCE Weather Each Battlefield also has Weather, which is the weather of the battlefield, which gives effects across the entire field.

The Leaves Fall Indiscriminately

Clear

0 All fighters gain cover at Strike 1.

Crimson and viridian leaves are cascading down.

It’s bright and clear. No modifications.

Sun Scorn

Light Rain

The Sun beats down relentlessly, scorching the lands.

It is drizzling. 0 All ranged attacks suffer -1 range.

0 Fire Attacks deal +1 Hit. 0 Fray inflicts 2 True Hits instead of 1.

Storm The winds pick up, and the rains have come.

Moongleam

0 All ranged attacks suffer -1 range.

The moon’s rictus grin shines down upon you all.

0 All ranged attacks suffer Dullness.

0 All area attacks lose the first Hit result.

0 All fighters’ Speeds are halved unless in covered areas.

0 At Strike 3+, every Start of Fulmination, there is a 30% chance that that fighter’s senses are overwhelmed: they suffer Daze.

Thunderstorm

Hunting Moon

It is almost impossible to see through the pall of the tempest.

The moon is gone, and darkness comes upon you all.

0 All ranged attacks suffer -1 range.

0 All fighters have cover against melee and ranged attacks.

0 All ranged attacks suffer +Dullness. 0 All fighters’ Speeds are halved unless in covered areas.

Night

0 All fighters in exposed squares have a 10% chance of being struck by lightning (1 True Hit) when they start their Fulmination.

It is the night. The moon might or might not be shining. A dark premonition burns. 0 Any fighter in a square not within the illumination of a light source is considered as having cover.

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VIOLENCE Field Traits

Firegecko

Field Traits are explicitly items or traits of the battlefield that can be interacted with. If the Environment and Terrain are both passive things that change the context of battle, Field Traits are active things that can shift the tide of combat. The following are only some examples of field traits that you can use.

A size 1/2 object in the battlefield. This is a firegecko that, once agitated by any sort of damage or if Interacted with, explodes and immediately inflicts 2 True Hits to all fighters in a burst 3 of it, and then it is removed from the battlefield.

Boulder

There is a geyser in a single square in the battlefield that is covered by a rock. Any fighter can interact with it to remove the rock. Afterward, at the start of any Beat as chosen by the interacter, the geyser explodes. When the Geyser explodes, any fighter that is within close burst 1 of the geyser inflicts 2 Hits and Juggle.

Geyser

A Size 1 boulder in the field, large in size, but can be pushed over. When it is forcibly moved, it moves in the direction it is pushed until it collides with terrain, a fighter, or the edge of the map. If terrain, it suffers 2 Hits. If a fighter, it deals 2 Hits to the fighter, slides the fighter to the side, and then keeps going (unless the fighter cannot be forcibly moved, in which case it suffers as if it hit terrain). If the edge of the map, if it is a wall then treat it as colliding with terrain. If the edge of the map is a chasm, then it falls into the chasm.

Pile of Leaves Takes up a single square. Any fighter can interact with it during the start of their turn or if they deal air damage to it. When you kick the leaves all about to provide a distraction, spend 1 Beat. All squares in burst 1 of the pile of leaves give cover.

Dam A line 3 blocking terrain blocking a river’s flow. It has a Durability 6, and when destroyed, the water rushes into the field, turning everything on the same height of the Dam or lower into water terrain.

Table A Size 1 object that can be pushed around, colliding with other fighters. It has a Durability 4. It can be interacted with to flip it on its side to make it a wall.

Entangling Vines

Boat

A size 1 object. When a fighter moves into its square, this consumes the Entangling Vines and they become Stop until they spend a Technique to remove it.

Very often this is not a large war barge or junk (those can be entire battlefields on their own) but rather, smaller sampans, dug-out canoes, and gondolas. These are commonly 3x2 long Size 2 objects and can be brought on top of water terrain. While on water terrain, these boats can be pushed as objects, but while on the boat, any fighter can spend 1 Beat to row the boat 2 squares in any direction.

Dirt Pile Takes up 1 square. While adjacent to a dirt pile, you can Interact with it to kick it into the face of a fighter adjacent to the dirt pile, inflicting Daze x3 to that fighter. Moving into the dirt pile removes it from the field.

Trees

Oil Jars

Squares that are +4 Elevation, and are Blocking Terrain. Each Tree has 20 Durability. If destroyed, choose a Line 4 in a direction away from the attacker (the attacker or the Umalagad) and the tree slams down there, inflicting 1 Hit and Unbalance. The tree disappears afterwards.

Takes up 1 square, but can share squares with other fighters. When the oil jar suffers fire damage, it explodes, dealing 2 True Hits to all fighters in close burst 1 and then making all those squares burning terrain.

Cold Diwata Idol An idol shaped in the form of a deep sea snake, to represent the coldness they came from. Takes up 1 square in the battlefield. When interacted with while adjacent, it deals 1 True Hit to all adjacent fighters and then turns all adjacent squares into frozen terrain until the end of your next Fulmination.

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VIOLENCE Consumables Listed here is a list of items that are commonly used in combat, known as consumables, that are very often only useful in combat. You can gain these as rewards or from buying from Downtime through gaining items. You can never have more than 3 of each of these item types at a time. When you use a consumable, they are consumed, meaning they are gone from your inventory. Whether in Solo, Co-Op or Traditional Play, the warband can only carry up to 5 consumables. More fighters in a warband would necessitate less consumables, while a sole fighter would likely need a lot of consumables to stay alive. In Solo Play, consider using these consumables (written in a d20 table so as to facilitate randomization) to fill in gaps when you’re having a hard time in combat. Give these to your Kadungganan as rewards for ventures and hard fought combats. Unless otherwise stated, all consumables need you to Interact with them (1 Beat) to use their effect.

d20

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Consumables Healing Concoction. Heal 2. Can be given to an adjacent ally to Heal them 2. Spiced Coconut Milk. Gain fire conditioning 2. Hot Ginger Tea. Gain water conditioning 2. Bluepea Drug. Gain metal conditioning 2. Calming Safflower Drink. Gain air conditioning 2. Heavenly Cloud Tea. Gain earth conditioning 2. Sugapa. Your next melee attack becomes skewering. Clearsight Herbs. Your next ranged attack ignores cover. Naga Tooth. Your next attack becomes water. Fireflower. Your next attack becomes fire. Iron Hibiscus Petal. Your next attack becomes metal. Calcified Lightning. Your next attack becomes air. Clump of Scorched Earth. Your next attack becomes earth. Mending Drug. Cleanse 1 status from yourself. Rooster Mentala. Inflict fire vulnerability 2 on one fighter in range 2. Naga Mentala. Inflict water vulnerability 2 on one fighter in range 2. Turtle Mentala. Inflict metal vulnerability 2 on one fighter in range 2. Hornbill Mentala. Inflict air vulnerability 2 on one fighter in range 2. Crocodile Mentala. Inflict earth vulnerability 2 on one fighter in range 2. Geomantic Moondrop. You can only ever have 1 of a Geomantic Moondrop, it’s mysticism makes it so that you never see two Moondrops at a time. Interacting with this costs 2 Techniques: Your next attack is Overwhelming.

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VIOLENCE

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VIOLENCE

Scenarios While Victory Conditions supply enough diversity to completely avoid the “deathmatch” type of encounter, here are four additional combat encounter types that change things up. These are called Scenarios. The four presented here are: Capture, Escort, Defense, and Last Stand.

Capture “Datu! The tree, the stone, and the longhouse in the present wetlands before us are under contention. We must be like the hurricane, and capture the field! Let us rejoice in our divine struggle!” - Satariya Pakrud, in the Battle of Lightnings and Flames, during the 12th Harvest of the Eighth Moon Era.

Escort “The Sarripada’s life before ours. We must remember our oaths. That sworn fealty we pledged under the blooming bamboo flowers, before the grand mountain of Gising-gising. If we break our oath, then what are we but base rocks, made to bleed foes? Let us remember where we came from. Let sorrow name the Sun, for tonight we shall bring the Stars to victory.” - SENAPATI SIKARA, IN THE BATTLE OF RED RIVER, IN THE INAGOS RIVER, THE 345TH HARVEST OF THE SEVENTH MOON ERA.

In Escort, you must help a single fighter (The Escort) travel from one corner of the map to the opposite corner of the map.

Capture is a classic capture the base kind of Scenario.

Objective: The Escort escapes alive and conscious.

Objective: Gain more Capture Points than the enemy side at the end of Strike 5.

Defeat Condition: Strike 6 ends without gaining Victory.

Defeat Condition: Defeat is when you gain less Capture Points than the enemy side.

Stalemate: The Escort is incapacitated.

Stalemate: An equal amount of points is achieved at the end of Strike 5. Battlefield Setup: When setting up the Battlefield, you must make the size at least 16x16 squares. Then, place three different 3x3 zones in the field. These are the Zones of Contention.

Battlefield Setup: When setting up the Field, you must make the size at least 16x16 squares. Then, place the deployment zone of the Kadungganan in one of the four corners of the map. Make it so that they can surround the Escort Unit. Then, place the Escape Zone in a 3x3 place that is at least 2 to 3 spaces from the opposite edge of the map.

At the end of every Strike, both sides count the number of fighters they have at least partially within the Zone of Contention. For each fighter you have within the Zone of Contention, gain a Capture Point.

Then, place the Initial Deployment Zone for the Enemies directly in front of the Target Zone, around 3 to 4 spaces from it. Then, place reinforcement deployment zones in four different parts of the map. Make sure that there are no more than N + 3 fighters in the map at any given time.

Deployment: Kadungganan and Enemies deploy in opposite sides of the map. Both Enemies and Kadungganan must deploy within a 3x3 space at both edges of the map.

Prepare double the amount of Enemies than you normally would, but deploy them in staggered intervals, or to increase tension. You can deploy new Enemies at the beginning of any Enemy Beat.

Enemies may have a contingent of reinforcements, but there cannot be more than N + 3 foes on the field at any given time. N being the number of Kadungganan.

The Escort: Build the Escort as a Companion Folk with the same tier as a Kadungganan, but they do not have their own Fulmination. The Escort moves whenever a Kadungganan or ally to them Strides, moving the same amount of Speed as the Kadungganan does. If the Escort is ever adjacent to a fighter from the enemy side, they stop moving and can’t move until it is only adjacent to units from the ally side.

Escape When a Kadungganan is within the Escape Zone, they may spend a Technique to escape at the end of their turn. If they are adjacent to the Escort and the Escort is not adjacent to an Enemy, the Escort also Escapes. The rest of the Kadungganan must then also Escape, or else be left behind.

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VIOLENCE Defense “Remember! We are the thunder and the lightning, the hurricane and the mountain! We shall protect what is ours. Now is not the time to run: they try to raid us for revenge? HA! Let us see about that. We are the golden gleaming blades! When we sunder them, let us make sure that they will not meet Hell!” - Sri Pakrud, the Battle of Indigo Lake, deep in Tauhaw, against belligerent Tauhawnon, during the Fifth Star Era.

Defense has you protecting either a single or a number of Size 3-5 objects. These can be used to dramatically simulate protecting a castle, protecting civilians and peasants, protecting a town, or protecting important artifacts.

The other was stretching, almost nonchalant, like a cat. “All right, fools. Listen up. All we have to do is be a thorn on their side, and their war machine will fall. Death is not defeat.” Sri Nagini turned as the forces of Virbanwa Stop across the grasslands, appearing from the trees. Sri Nagini and the Kadungganan stood within an ancient kota, overlooking the Lake of Sirimina. “Remember that wretched and exalted phrase,” said Sri Nagini, and she raised her spear—the bells upon it clanging in cacophony—to signal that they were there. She screamed: “Revel in love and lightning!”

The Last Stand is one of pure desperation. At best, it's holding out just long enough for a victory in another area. At worst, it is certain death.

Objective: The Ward/s still stands at the end of the Strike 8.

But death brings glory.

Defeat Condition: All Wards are destroyed.

Objective: The Kadungganan have 1 or more Points at the end of the Strike 6.

Stalemate: All Kadungganan are Defeated.

Defeat Condition: The Kadungganan have less than 1 Point at the end of Strike 6.

Field Setup: When setting up the Field, you must make the size at least 16x16 squares. Then, place the Ward to be defended in one side. Place Kadungganan Deployment directly in front of the objective. Then, place Enemy deployment zones in three different areas: one in front of the Kadungganan Deployment zone, and then two more at two different sides, on both sides of the map. None should begin behind or beside the Ward.

Stalemate: None. This is Victory or Death. Battlefield Setup: When setting up the Field, you must make the size at least 16x16 squares. Then, place the Last Stand Zone in the center of the map, usually a 3x3 space. During Preparation Phase, Kadungganan may place 1: either Blocking Terrain or a space of difficult terrain in 1 square within 2 squares of the Last Stand Zone.

Prepare double the amount of Enemies ([N+3]*2), but hold half of them as reinforcements. At the beginning of Strike 3+, deploy any number of reinforcements at the edges of the map, but never going past N+3.

The Foe Deployment Zone is every side of the map. They must start from the edges of the map, but they may deploy in any part of the map’s edges.

Ward: The Object should be at Size 3 to Size 5, and it can be a single object or multiple objects (good for simulating defending a number of houses, for example). Define what this is.

Prepare triple the amount of Enemies, but hold half as Reinforcements. At the beginning of Strike 3+, you can begin deploying reinforcements in the edges of the map, but you should never have more than N+3.

Last Stand

Last Stand Zone: The Kadungganan begin with 4 points. At the end of Strike 6, tally the points. For each Enemy within the Last Stand Zone, the Kadungganan lose 1 Point. This can bring their points to the negatives.

It was a thunderous morning. The sun was not there to greet them. As expected, Sri Nagini was correct. She had anticipated that the Virbanwanon would follow them to the depths of the Mairete. She was stuck with just four other Mairete Kadungganan. Lingid, too. Unknown. No songs about them. Greenhorns, but Kadungganan all the same. They would have to do. The war drums of the Virbanwanon— plundered from Akai towns no doubt— resounded in the distance. “Bayi,” said one of them. A young girl, wielding a sikarom taller than her. She was clad in the full vestment of breastplates and abaca undershirts. “How many are there?” “Are you ready for death, child?” They had to hold out. Just for a bit. Sri Nagini knew that the young Rajah Batara Ambasi was halfway through the mountain of Janagdan. All they needed was a couple sunmovements, and they will be in Alang-alang, and on a karakoa home. To safety. Rajah Batara Ambasi must not fall. The young girl did not answer. Sri Nagini turned to the others. Two young men, one of them drowning himself with alcohol.

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VIOLENCE

Enemies

Traditional Play

Not all people you meet become your enemies. Of course not. If you will make an enemy of every sword then you will never achieve healing through violence. However, if you are afraid of making any enemies, then you will never bring about a better world. In Violence, those hostile to you are known as your Enemies, fighters on the field that have an express goal of making sure that you don’t accomplish your Objective. Enemies are built differently than Kadungganan, and they are significantly easier to handle, as very often one player is expected to control each enemy (though this is a convention Gubat Banwa does not aim to uphold, thanks to Solo Play and Co-Op Play). An Enemy is composed of 4 parts: their Martial Abilities, their Trait, their Inflict Violence, and their Gambits. 0 Martial Abilities are the 6 combat focused abilities. These are Hit Points [HP], Bravery [BRV], Faith [FTH], Posture [POS], Resistance [RES], and Speed [SPD]. 0 Traits are single defining abilities that are always in effect, and usually exalt the Enemy’s Class. 0 Inflict Violences are that Class’ basic attack. They almost always only have one. 0 Gambits are the brunt of an enemy, and dictates what they do on their Fulmination.

Gambits Enemies still have 3 Beats, and Gambits tell the enemy what they do with those 3 Beats. Think of them as AI for the enemies. At the start of an NPC’s Fulmination, roll their Gambit Die. The result dictates what techniques the NPC performs in order, listed in the Gambit Entry. The Gambit is what you call the table itself, Gambit Entries are each of the entries listed down, which differ based on the complexity of each Gambit. Each Gambit Entry will have a multitude of actions. Some actions are Basic Techniques (costing 1 Beat to do), but they might have access to other effects, wherein the number of Beats needed to use it would be noted in brackets. [X] If an Action wouldn’t do anything (ie., Inflicting Violence without a target) the enemy can choose to Stride instead in place of that part of the Gambit. They must then move on to the next Gambit action.

If you are in Traditional Play, the Umalagad can simply play with Gambits as well to ease the mental load. However, the Umalagad can take control of each enemy, using the things they can do on their Gambits as the things they can spend their Beats on. Gambits and Fiction Of course, Gambits are made in such a way to dynamically alter the fiction, so you can bounce off of what the Gambit rolls might be. However if something is drastically going in a direction that is detrimental to the current fiction, or if you have a golden opportunity for an interesting or dramatic twist, you can take control of an enemy and gain 3 Beats to spend on any actions on their Gambit List.

Building Violence Your Violence Budget is how many enemies you can deploy against Kadungganan. These fights are commonly average or difficult, so as to challenge your players. Your Violence Score is always N+1, with N being the number of Kadungganan in the field. This means a fight with 3 Kadungganan would have a score of 4. Each standard Enemy is equal to 1 violence point. Using the previous example, deploying 4 Enemies (N+1) against 3 Kadungganan is a recommended average fight. To make it harder, your score instead is Nx2. To make it easier, your score instead is N-1. Below is a list of all types of things to introduce into a fight to fill up your Violence Score: 0 Standard Warrior = 1 0 Minion = 1/5 0 Brave = 2 0 Chief = Nx2

The Battlefield Once you’ve considered the number of enemies, you should then choose at least 2 from below, 3 if its a particularly significant setpiece: 0 3-5 Field Traits. 0 A Height Variation equal to or greater than +5/-5. 0 Large swathes of difficult terrain. 0 At least 3-5 pieces of cover or blocking terrain. 0 At least 10 sides of walls. 0 A change in Weather.

Defeat When an NPC is brought to 0 HP, they are immediately Defeated, unless stated otherwise.

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VIOLENCE Enemy Types

NPC Ranks

Enemy Types are narrative and mechanical templates for you to express different fighting styles. Each Style has 7 Types, with the first Type being the basic type that that style is supposed to do in the battlefield, thus being less complicated and good for first-time players to use. Finally, each style also has an 8th Chief Type, a fighter that requires a party of fighters to defeat.

There are four base NPC Ranks. There is the Standard Warrior, which is a standard enemy. Then there are the Minions, and the Braves. You can apply these Ranks to any NPC Type except for Chiefs.

Each enemy type has 3 sections to their Martial Abilities, written as “x/x/x”. Each section denotes to an Arc: “Arc 1/Arc 2/Arc 3” and when fighting Kadungganan of that Arc you would use the appropriate Arc rating. On top of the generic Enemy Types here, there are also Faction Types that one can find in the Regions of Gubat Banwa, detailed under each Faction. These Types are unique to their Factions. Each Type is also color-coded styles that narrate their role in the battlefield. Red means they are Raiders. Swift damage dealers. Orange means they are Sharpshooters. Ranged and area attackers. Blue means they are Sentinels. Defenders of their allies and damage takers.

0 Minions: Minions represent easy to dispatch enemies, those that are so far below the skill of the Kadungganan. They each have only 1 HP and have -1 to all Martial Abilities except for their SPD. Additionally, all Minions of the same type Fulminate together. 4 Raider Minions fulminate at the same time and share the same Gambit. 0 Braves: Braves are more powerful warriors that can pose a threat to Kadungganan. They have x2 HP, have +1 to all Martial Abilities except for SPD, and Fulminates twice in one Strike. 0 Companion: Companions are allies to the Kadungganan that can hold their own, and might even be Kadungganan themselves. Commonly in Solo Play, they fill in the roles of other warriors. Companions have x2 HP, and they become Critical instead of Defeated when they fall to 0 HP. Only use Companions for allied NPCs.

Fulmination Order

Purple means they are Witches. Those that inflict Banes and can change the battlefield.

When running enemies, use the following turn order to choose which Enemies Fulminate during an enemy Fulmination. Two or more enemies of the same Style can be made to Fulminate in any order.

Green means they are Mediums. Wild cards, supporters, and givers of Boons and healing.

Sentinels Fulminate first > Witches Fulminate next > Raiders Fulminate afterwards > Sharpshooters Fulminate afterwards > Mediums Fulminate last.

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VIOLENCE

Raider Types RAIDERS Raiders move swiftly and scrap, dealing large amounts of damage when given the opportunity. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

5/7/9

RES

3/4/4

FTH

3/5/6

SPD

4/5/6

TRAIT: AMBUSH Ambush: Raiders gain +1d on all melee attacks against targets with full HP. Inflict Violence: Flurry

melee metal bravery attack vs 1 adjacent target GAMBITS (d8) 1-3

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

4-6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Shove

7-8

Stride > Inflict Violence > Gatling [1 tech]: Inflict Violence, ignoring CB

FIST

ASSASSIN

Powerful front line pugilists who can grapple enemies and strike with a multitude of elements channeled from the gods.

Extremely close quarters warriors that are super fast and have phases where they cannot be hit at all. Used to get through enemy lines.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

5/7/9

RES

3/4/4

FTH

3/5/6

SPD

4/5/6

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

TRAIT: GRAPPLER

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

5/7/9

RES

3/4/4

FTH

3/5/6

SPD

4/5/6

TRAIT: ASSASSIN

Attacks against fighters with Stop have Overwhelming.

Melee attacks vs Staggered enemies have +1 Hit.

INFLICT VIOLENCE: LOCK AND BREAK

Inflict Violence: Karambit

attack with sword elbows that turn into grapples: melee earth bravery attack vs 1 close target, inflict stop per 8+ on the attack teeth.

Lacerate with Unbridled Precision: Melee Air Bravery Attack vs all targets vs an adjacent target. May teleport 1 if the target becomes Critical or Defeated.

GAMBITS (d8)

GAMBITS (d8)

1-2 Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

1-2 Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence 3-4 Stride > Inflict Violence > Gatling [1]: Inflict Violence, ignoring CB 5-6 Shadows Strike Twice [1]: Teleport SPD > Inflict Violence > Shadowstep [1]: Teleport 2 7-8 Shadowstep [1]: Teleport 3 + Anino Devaraja [2]: Inflict Violence x2, ignoring CB.

3-4 Stride > Inflict Violence > Whack [1]: Inflict 1 Hit on 1 adjacent fighter 5-6 Rush 2 > Inflict Violence > Mortal Grapples Gods [1]: Melee Fire Bravery Attack vs 1 close target, consume X Stop to inflict X Hits. 7-8 Stride > Wrestle Buddhas [2]: Melee Fire Bravery+Faith Attack vs all enemies in blast 3, then inflict Stop.

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VIOLENCE LANCER

RAGER

Lance-wielding warriors that make up the bulk of warriors in the Sword Isles. Their reach and their ability to travel through dense jungle makes them formidable foes.

Powerful warriors that throw caution to the wind and dive deep into violence, immersed into an endless well of fury. MARTIAL ABILITIES

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

5/7/9

RES

3/4/4

FTH

3/5/6

SPD

4/5/6

TRAIT: CHARGE After striding 4+ sq, gain BRV+1 until the end of next Fulmination. INFLICT VIOLENCE: IMPALE

skewer enemies: metal metal bravery attack vs 2 targets in line 2 GAMBITS (d8)

HP

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

5/7/9

RES

3/4/4

FTH

3/5/6

SPD

4/5/6

TRAIT: RAGE Rage: When Staggered, immediately become Raging for the rest of violence. > Raging: Gain BRV+2, FTH+2, SPD+2 INFLICT VIOLENCE: FURY

attack recklessly: melee metal (fire if raging) bravery (+faith if raging) vs 1 adjacent target. GAMBITS (d8)

1-2 Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence 3-4 Stride > Dragon Tooth [2]: Pierce down with a burning spear: Ranged Fire Bravery+Faith Attack vs 1 enemy in range 4, then inflict Stop 5-6 Lancer’s Speed [1]: Gain 1 SPD+1 > Stride > Inflict Violence 7-8 Stride > Sibat Bakunawa [2]: Throw spear in a straight line, channeling the spirit of the Bakunawa: Area Water Bravery+Faith Attack vs all targets in Line 6

1-2 Stride > Inflict Violence > Stride 3-4 Stride > Berserk [2]: Holy wrath in the name of God! Area Fire Bravery+Faith Attack vs all fighters in Blast 3 5-6 Temper [1]: Next attack becomes Skewering. If Raging, also gain Overwhelming > Stride > Inflict Violence 7-8 Stride > Fell Cleave [2]: Inflict Violence three times, ignoring CB.

SWORDMAIDEN

REAPER

Sword wielding warriors that carry with them the prestige of the blade. They can set up attacks for allies as they batter down their foes.

A scythe and shovel wielding warrior-gardener that chucks soil, uproots trees, and beckons all to the burial jar. MARTIAL ABILITIES

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

5/7/9

RES

3/4/4

FTH

3/5/6

SPD

4/5/6

TRAIT: SWORDSDANCE After making a melee attack, Rush 1 and then gain POS+1 until the end of next Fulmination. INFLICT VIOLENCE: GRACEFUL BLADE

strike like a dancer: melee water bravery attack vs 2 targets in burst 1 GAMBITS (d8) 1-2 Stride > Inflict Violence > Parry [1]: Inflict Unbalance per surplus Defend on a melee attack against this fighter. 3-4 Stride > Sword Ambahan [2]: Cut all those around: Area Water Bravery+Faith Attack vs all targets in burst 1. 5-6 Sharpen [1]: Gain BRV+1 until end of next Fulmination > Stride > Inflict Violence 7-8 Sword Dance [3]: Rush 6 in a straight line, moving through enemies, inflicting 1 Hit on every enemy moved through. Then repeat this effect twice more.

HP

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

5/7/9

RES

3/4/4

FTH

3/5/6

SPD

4/5/6

TRAIT: DIG At the start of Violence, choose any square past 6 squares from this fighter. That becomes a Chasm. At Start of Fulmination, may turn 1 adjacent free square into a Difficult Terrain, if already Difficult, it becomes a Chasm. Immune to all Terrain. INFLICT VIOLENCE: REAP

reap with a sickle: melee earth bravery attack vs all targets in path 3. mark each target hit. GAMBITS (d8) 1-2 Bring To Hell [3]: Summon grasping demons: Area Earth Bravery Attack vs all targets in burst 2, all free squares in the burst become Difficult Terrain 3-4 Stride > Harvest [2]: All marked enemies suffer Pull 2 and 1 Hit. 5-6 Stride > Deep Cut [1]: Cleave down with the scythe: Area Earth Bravery Attack vs all targets in line 3, free squares become difficult terrain > Arise [1]: Teleport adjacent to any Chasm. 7-8 Arise [1]: Teleport adjacent to any Chasm > Inflict Violence > Stride

79

VIOLENCE

Sharpshooter Types SHARPSHOOTERS Sharpshooters attack from afar, reliably, picking off enemies, but spending most of their time aiming. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 5/6/7 POS 3/4/5 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 3/3/4 TRAIT: CRITICAL DISTANCE Inflict Violence: Volley Attacking a target that is 3+ sq away has +1d.

1-2 3-4

5-6

let loose a flurry of shots: ranged metal bravery attack vs 1 target in range 5

GAMBITS (d6) Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence Push 1/Stride > Inflict Violence > Aim [1]: Mark 1 fighter in range 5 until the end of next Fulmination. All attacks of this fighter against any marked fighter has +1d. Stride > Sharp Shot [2]: Pull back and let loose a javelin shot: Area Air Bravery Attack vs all targets in line 5.

SNIPER

TIGLANTAKA

Warriors that wield either giant, man-sized bamboo longbows or long arquebuses that can bring single targets down from almost across the battlefield, unparalleled in their capability to shoot down single targets.

Cannoneers trained in the arts of explosion and penetration.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 5/6/7 POS 3/4/5 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 3/3/4 TRAIT: WATCHTOWER Inflict Violence: Snipe When hitting a target with a ranged attack, inflict Aim on them, indefinitely. When making an attack on a target with Aim, consume X Aim to add +Xd to the attack. Aim is considered a mark.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 5/6/7 POS 3/4/5 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 3/3/4 TRAIT: BLASTER Inflict Violence: Blast All area attacks have Sharpness.

shoot the perfect shot: ranged air bravery attack vs 1 target in range 6, ignoring blocking terrain and cover.

GAMBITS (d6) 1 2-3

4-5

GAMBITS (d6) 1 2-3

4-5

6

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence Stride > Inflict Violence > Snipe [1]: Inflict 1 True Hit to 1 Fighter in range 5 Stride > Inflict Violence > Overwatch [1]: Until end of next Fulmination, 1/Fulmination, when a fighter moves out of a sq within burst 5, inflict 1 True Hit. Stride > Hiyang Shot [2]: Inflict 1 True Hit to all marked enemies.

80

Blast cannons: Area Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in blast 3.

6

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence Stride > Inflict Violence > Deflect Stride(+1) > Dragon Flame [2]: Unleash a stream of dragon breath: Area Fire Bravery+Faith Attack vs all targets in Blast 3. All free squares in the blast become Burning Terrain. Stride > Cannonball [2]: Area Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in Line 6. Inflict 1 Hit on every fighter adjacent to the last target of the line.

VIOLENCE JUGGLER

BLOWGUNNER

Acrobatic warriors that can juggle rope darts, daggers, swords, spears, and even hearts.

Treetop assassins that inflict poisons and other lethal effects from afar with imbued darts. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 5/6/7 POS 3/4/5 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 3/3/4 Trait: Treetop Assassin Inflict Violence: Sumpit

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 5/6/7 POS 3/4/5 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 3/3/4 Trait: Bouncing Daggers Inflict Violence: Toss After making a ranged attack, inflict 1 True Hit on an enemy within range 2 of one of the targets of the attack

Toss your daggers: Ranged Metal Bravery Attack vs all targets in path 4.

When attacking with Vantage, Blow a dart: Ranged Earth inflict +1 Hit. Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 4, inflict SPD-1 per 8+. GAMBITS (d6)

GAMBITS (d6) 1 2-3

4-5 6

1

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

2-3

Stride > Leap > Inflict Violence Stride > Death Blossom [2]: Rush 3, and then deal 1 True Hit to all enemies in burst 2 at any point during the move. Stride > Dancing Fang [2]: Ranged Metal Bravery Attack vs all targets in path 6, inflicting Eviscerate 1 [+1 per 8+ on the attack teeth.]

4-5 6

A jovial and mad dervish that performs war dances in the battlefield to summon and invoke the very gods and spirits, and to inspire their allies.

Powerful magick-users and spellcasters that have the strength and power of a artillery. They very often channel the teachings of either destruction gods (such as Siwa Priests or Nibatala Katalonan) or rely on the knowledge of old mystic arts passed down from generations.

At Strike 4+, gain Floating, Overwhelming, and all Hits are True Hits.

Lob an explosive ball of flame: Area Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in burst 1 within 4 squares.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 5/6/7 POS 3/4/5 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 3/3/4 Trait: Joyful Jive Inflict Violence: War Dance May Rush 1 after every ranged attack.

1

4-5 6

Dance a violent jive: Ranged Air Bravery Attack vs 1 fighter in range 3, then all allies in burst 2 may rush 1.

GAMBITS (d6)

GAMBITS (d6) 2-3

Stride > Inflict Violence > Surmount [1] Rush 2 ignoring height. Stride > Barrage [2]: Inflict Violence twice, ignoring Combo Breaker Acrobatics [2]: Rush 5 ignoring height > Venom Cloud: Inflict 1 True Hit and Fray x2 on all enemies in blast 4.

DANCER

SORCERER

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 5/6/7 POS 3/4/5 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 3/3/4 Trait: Power Overwhelming Inflict Violence: Fireball

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

1

Stride > Inflict Violence > Stride

2-3

Stride > Teleport 1 > Overwhelming Siwa-Merit [1]: Area Fire Faith Attack vs all enemies in burst 2. Teleport 3 > Siwa Lantaka [2]: Area Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in Blast 5. Ajna Siwa [3]: Inflict 1 True Hit on any fighter in the battlefield.

4-5

6

81

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence Stride > Inflict Violence > Spear Dance [1]: Choose 1 ally in range 3. Bless them with BRV+1. Stride > Burning Dance [2]: Area Fire Bravery Attack vs all chosen targets in burst 3. All Allies in the burst gains Overwhelming on their next attack. Stride > Channel Nataraja [2]: Area Earth Bravery+Faith Attack vs all targets in burst 3. All allies in the burst can Rush 2 and then Inflict Violence.

VIOLENCE

Sentinel Types SENTINELS Sentinels are fighters that keep enemies close, refusing to let them attack allies, and those that can take a lot of hits and keep going. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

7/8/9

POS

4/6/8

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/5/7

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

Trait: Vigil

Inflict Violence: Crusher

1/Fulmination, when a fighter Strike down with a very large leaves an adjacent square, may weapon. Melee Metal Bravery Inflict Violence Attack vs 1 Adjacent Target then Push 1 GAMBITS (d10) 1-4

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

5-8

Shove/Stride > Inflict Violence > Provoke [1]: Choose 1 fighter within 3 squares and give them Provoke. Stride > Great Rampart [2]: Until end of next Fulmination, all squares adjacent to the Sentinel becomes difficult terrain for all enemies.

9-10

JUGGERNAUT

GUARDIAN

Momentous mountains that can barrel through foes and stay in the thick of it, keeping heat off allies.

Guardians get in between their allies and enemies and become an indestructible wall, a lightning rod against all attacks.

MARTIAL ABILITIES

MARTIAL ABILITIES

HP

6/7/8

POS

5/7/9

HP

6/7/8

POS

5/7/9

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

Trait: Unstoppable

Inflict Violence: Axe

Trait: Guard

Inflict Violence: Hammer

Can collide with fighters and not have movement stopped. Can move into enemy squares, colliding. Does not suffer damage from collides. Can only voluntarily collide once per fighter per Fulmination.

Unleash chopping strikes: Melee Earth Bravery Attack vs 1 Adjacent Target, Push 1, then Rush into the vacated sq

1/Fulmination, when a fighter leaves an adjacent square, inflict 1 True Hit.

Unleash thundering strikes: Melee Metal Bravery attack vs 1 adjacent target, inflict SPD1.

GAMBITS (d10)

GAMBITS (d10) 1-3

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

4-6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Momentum [1]: Gain SPD+1 x2. Inflict Violence > Stampede [2]: Rush 5, moving through enemies, inflicting 2 True Hits per enemy moved through. Can only move through enemies once. Stride > Inflict Violence > Fling [1]: Push 5 the target, inflicting +1 Hit and Stun 1 if they collide.

7-9

10

82

1-3

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

4-6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Shield Up [1]: Gain 1 Defend against the next attack. Stalwart [1]: Gain Block +1 > Taunt [1]: Pull 2 one fighter in burst 3 > Inflict Violence Stride > Guardian Aura [2]: Mark every ally in burst 3. Any time a fighter makes an attack against a marked ally, become the target of the attack instead.

7-9 10

VIOLENCE IRONCLAD

DESTROYER

A slow moving inevitability clad in the fullest of armors in the Isles, wielding large weapons that smash through.

Powerful warrior-priests blessed with Siwa-Makaobus Flame, capable of great conflagrations.

MARTIAL ABILITIES

MARTIAL ABILITIES

HP

6/7/8

POS

5/7/9

HP

6/7/8

BRV FTH

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

BRV

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

FTH

Trait: Brute

Inflict Violence: Panabas

Gain 1 Defend against the first Hit of any Fulmination.

Send crushing barrages: Melee Metal Bravery vs 1 adjacent target, inflict Eviscerate

GAMBITS (d10) 1-3 4-6 7-9 10

POS

5/7/9

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

Trait: Burning Hatred Any fighter that has Fray is considered as having Provoke to the Destroyer

Inflict Violence: Makaobus Blade Strike with burning strikes: Melee Fire Faith vs All target in path 2, inflict Fray.

GAMBITS (d10)

Stride > Inflict Violence > Stalwart [1]: Gain Block +1 Stride > Inflict Violence > Opportunity [1]: Gain Opportunity [Boon] x2. When an enemy leaves an adjacent sq, inflict 1 True Hit Stride > Quake [2]: Area Earth Bravery Attack vs all enemies in range 1 burst 1, inflict Stop Stride > Shield Up [1]: Gain 1 Defend against the next attack. > Shield Bash [1]: Melee Metal Bravery (+1 per current Block) attack vs 1 adjacent fighter,

1-3 4-6 7-9 10

Stride > Inflict Violence > Opportunity [1]: Gain Opportunity [Boon] x2. When an enemy leaves an adjacent sq, inflict 1 True Hit Stride > Inflict Violence > Conflagrate [1]: Inflict Fray 1 on all enemies in burst 2. Stride > Cleansing Flame of Makaobus [2]: Area Fire Bravery (+1 per Bane on target) Attack vs all enemies in blast 3, inflicting Fray. Makaobus-Buda Inferno [3]: Area Fire Faith+Bravery Attack vs all enemies in burst 5, Pull 3 (any fighter that collides with the Destroyer suffers Fray)

HOUND A swift moving knight that moves with blinding speed across the battlefield to protect allies. Usually devotees of Wisnu. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

5/7/9

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

Trait: Ward

Inflict Violence: Ravaging Knives

At start of Violence, make 1 ally Ward. Whenever Ward is attacked, Rush 3, inflicting 1 True Hit if adjacent by end of Rush. Choose a new Ward when current Ward is Defeated.

Claw and rip apart: Melee Metal Bravery vs 1 adjacent target, if the target has Provoke, this becomes BRVx2

CHAMPION An unconquerable warrior that brings inspiration and strength to their allies, which in turn bolsters themselves. Said to be champions of Adlaw, the Great Sun MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

5/7/9

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

Trait: Burden

GAMBITS (d10) 1-3 4-6 7-9 10

Inflict Violence: Blessed Kalis

When an ally is targeted within burst 2, may change the target to the Champion instead.

Smite with blessed fervor: Melee Fire Bravery vs 1 adjacent target. If the target has Banes, this becomes Bravery+Faith

GAMBITS (d10)

Stride > Inflict Violence > Distract [1]: Inflict Provoke x2 to a single adjacent target. Stride > Inflict Violence > Opportunity [1]: Gain Opportunity [Boon] x2. When an enemy leaves an adjacent sq, inflict 1 True Hit Dogged Drive [1]: Gain SPD+1 x2 > Stride > Hamstring [1]: Melee Earth Bravery attack vs 1 adjacent target, inflict Stop. Mukunda’s Chariot [3]: Teleport adjacent to any enemy and then Inflict Violence to all enemies in burst 2, then inflict Provoke, +1 per 7+ on the Attack Teeth.

1-3 4-6 7-9 10

83

Stride > Inflict Violence > Stalwart [1]: Gain Block +1 Stride > Budhi Taming [2]: Gain Block 4. Stride > Imbue Sunlight [1]: Protect 3 all allies in burst 2. > Adlaw’s Glave [1]: Melee Fire FTHx2 Attack vs All Fighters in Blast 3 Dakog Kalasag [3]: Gain Immunity against the next melee or ranged attack.

VIOLENCE

Witch Types WITCH Witches control the battlefield with banes and afflictions. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

4/5/6

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Potent Curse

Inflict Violence: Hex

With Faith Attacks, every Hit also gives the target Eviscerate.

A word and gesture, snarling, and then torture: Ranged Earth Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 5, Inflict BRV-1

GAMBITS (d12) 1-4

Stride > Inflict Violence > Stride

5-8

Stride > Cursed Suggestion [1]: Slide 1 all targets of choice in range 3 burst 1 > Inflict Violence Stride > Armor Break [1]: Inflict all chosen targets in range 3 burst 1 with POS-2.

9-12

TORMENTOR

ATROCITY

Tormentors are bombard victims with ailments to slow them down and whittle their will.

A Dihiyang infested warrior, who uses the perversion of harmony to their advantage.

MARTIAL ABILITIES

MARTIAL ABILITIES

HP

4/5/6

POS

3/4/5

HP

4/5/6

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Torment

Inflict Violence: Blood Mantra

Any Bane inflicted has +1 Duration and the first Bane inflicted on a Beat inflicts 1 True Hit.

Utter a mantra to rapture: Water Earth Faith Attack vs all enemies in range 3 burst 1, then inflict Bleed.

Trait: Disharmony Whenever forcibly moving a target, inflict 1 True Hit, once per enemy per Fulmination

5-8 9-12

10-12

Rend with dissonant claws: Ranged Water Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 3, then slide 1

GAMBITS (d12)

GAMBITS (d12) 1-4

Inflict Violence: Halimaw Claws

Stride > Inflict Violence > Frighten [1]: Inflict Unbalance x2 to 1 target in range 3 Teleport 3 > Pestilence [1]: Inflict Fray x2 on one enemy in range 3 > Inflict Violence Slide 4 one enemy in range 4 > Doubt MindCurse [1]: Give FTH-1 to 1 target in range 3 > Blinding Lights [1]: Give Daze x2 on one fighter in range 3. Tearing Hex [1]: Give Unbalance x2 to one fighter in range 3 > Destroy Manikin [1]: Inflict Sunder to one fighter in range 3 > Horrify [1]: Stun one fighter in range 3.

84

1-4 5-8 9-12 10-12

Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence Rush 3 > Discordant Blast [2]: Area Water Faith attack vs all chosen targets in Blast 3, Push 2 Stride > Discordant Displacement [2]: Slide 2 all enemies in burst 3 Inflict Violence > Inflict Disharmony [2]: Give all enemies in range 3 burst 2 Juggle and POS2.

VIOLENCE RITUALIST

ORATOR

Ritualists summon little gods that lock down the battlefield.

A speaker-warrior that uses the strength of rhetoric and word to confound enemies.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

4/5/6

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Summoning Ritual Whenever hitting with an attack, may put down a Spirit (Summon) adjacent to one target. Can only have 3 Spirits at a time. All squares adjacent to the spirit are Difficult Terrain. At the start of a fight, put down a Spirit in range 5.

MARTIAL ABILITIES

Inflict Violence: Channel Spirit Strike through with the soul: Ranged Air Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 3, then all Spirits in the field inflict 1 True Hit on all enemies adjacent to them

5-8 9-12 10-12

4/5/6

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/5

Inflict Violence: Mock Insults and cutting words: Ranged Air Faith attack vs 1 target in range 3, inflict BRV2.

1-4

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

5-8

Stride > Doubt [1]: Inflict FTH-2 to a fighter in range 3 > Insult [1]: Inflict POS-2 to a fighter in range 3 Stride > Dominate [2]: Force 1 fighter in range 3 to Inflict Violence against any fighter of your choice. Stride > Stunning Logic [2]: Stun 1 fighter in range 2.

A skilled warrior that uses peerless craftsmanship to craft weapons and obstacles. MARTIAL ABILITIES

Inflict Violence: Shortbow Loose a barrage of barbed arrows: Ranged Earth Bravery attack vs all targets in range 3 blast 3, inflict Bleed.

HP

4/5/6

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Craftsman

Inflict Violence: Crafting Mace

Does not cause collides. When making other fighters collide, inflict +1 Hit

Strike the foe, the hot blade upon the anvil: Melee Fire Line 2 vs all targets, then Push 2

GAMBITS (d12) 1-4

GAMBITS (d12)

10-12

5/6/7

SMITH

HP

9-12

FTH

10-12

MARTIAL ABILITIES

5-8

3/4/5

9-12

Skilled hunter martial artists that lock down the battlefield with intricate traps.

1-4

3/4/5

RES

GAMBITS (d12)

HUNTER

At the end of a Fulmination, turn one adjacent free square into dangerous terrain until the end of their next Fulmination

POS

3/4/5

Trait: Persuasion

Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence Teleport 3 > God Call [1]: Pull 1 all enemies in burst 2 of all Spirits to the Spirits > Inflict Violence Faith Unending [1]: Heal 1 all spirits > Fury Diwa [1]: All spirits may Rush 1 > Reprimand [1]: Stop all enemies adjacent to spirits. Inflict Violence > Ancestor’s Vengeance [2]: Until end of next Fulmination, if a spirit falls to 0HP, it inflicts 2 True Hits on the one that defeated it.

Trait: Trap

4/5/6

After inflicting a Bane on a fighter, slide them 1

GAMBITS (d12) 1-4

HP BRV

5-8

Stride > Inflict Violence > Hobbling Trap [1]: Turn 1 free square in range 3 into difficult terrain Rush 3 > Stopping Trap [1]: Turn 1 free square in range 3 into hindering terrain > Inflict Violence Spike Trap [2]: Choose 1 square in range 3. All enemies in burst 2 of the sq suffer 1 True Hit and Stop > Stride Stride > Pit Trap [1]: Turn 1 free square in range 3 into a chasm > Inflict Violence

9-12

10-12

85

Build [1]: Place a Size 1 Object on an adjacent free square > Stride > Inflict Violence Build [1]: Place a Size 1 Object on an adjacent free square > Leap > Inflict Violence Repair [1]: Heal 1 all adjacent allies > Inscriptions [1]: All enemies adjacent to objects put down by the Smith suffer 1 True Hit > Hari Meditation [1]: Slide 1 all objects on the field. Build [1]: Place a Size 1 Object on an adjacent free sq >Build [1]: Place a Size 1 Object on an adjacent free sq >Build [1]: Place a Size 1 Object on an adjacent free sq

VIOLENCE

Medium Types MEDIUM Mediums provide combat support for their allies. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

5/6/7

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Empower

Inflict Violence: Chant

When an ally starts their Fulmination adjacent to the Medium, they gain Block 1.

Incant a stirring chant: Ranged Fire Faith attack vs 1 target in range 3, then 1 ally in range 3 gains +1d to their next attack

GAMBITS (d6) 1-2

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

3-4

Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence > Inspire [1]: 1 ally in 2 square may Rush 2 Stride > Shout [2]: All allies in burst 2 gains +1d to their next attack.

5-6

HERBALIST

BALYAN

A field medic who uses herbs and incantations to mend wounds and make others stronger.

Spirit mediums that interact with the invisible realm of spirits through trances and dances.

MARTIAL ABILITIES

MARTIAL ABILITIES

HP

5/6/7

POS

3/4/5

HP

5/6/7

BRV FTH

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

BRV

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/5

FTH

Trait: Auto-Potion 1/ally per Violence, when an ally falls to Staggered, heal 2 them immediately.

Inflict Violence: Ritual Dagger Draw blood for healing: Melee Metal Bravery attack vs 1 adjacent target, Push 2

2-3 4-5 6

Sri Dewi Agas Mudra [3]: Heal 1 all allies in the battlefield and cleanse all chosen effects from them. Stride > Inflict Violence > Heal [1]: Heal 1 one range 2 ally Stride > Hearten [1]: Give 1 ally in range 3 RES+1 > Purify [1]: Cleanse a single effect from an ally in range 3. Selfcare [1]: Heal 1 self > Stride > Heal [1]: Heal 1 one range 2 ally

86

3/4/5

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Healing Spirit Allies that start their Fulmination adjacent heal 1.

GAMBITS (d6) 1

POS

Inflict Violence: Sword Spirit Choose 1 ally in range 3. A sword spirit possesses them: giving them Skewering on their next attack

GAMBITS (d6) 1 2-3 4-5

6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence Stride > Hearten [1]: Give 1 ally in range 3 RES+1 > Spirit Break! [1]: Let 1 ally in range 3 Inflict Violence Stride > Balahala Adlaw’s Blessing [2]: Range 3 Burst 2: all allies in the burst can gain +1d on their next attack and they can choose to make it deal fire attack. Stride > Flood God [2]: All allies in line of sight gain Regen x2.

VIOLENCE WARLORD

SINGER

A frontline warrior that leads their allies to supreme victory.

Wisefolk that grant teachings and guidance to their allies, using mudras and incantations.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

5/6/7

POS

3/4/5

BRV

4/5/6

RES

4/5/6

FTH

2/3/4

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Advance

MARTIAL ABILITIES

Inflict Violence: Blade

At start of Fulmination, Rush 1 Strike with a leading blade: all adjacent allies. Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target, then 1 adjacent ally may Inflict Violence

HP

5/6/7

POS

3/4/5

BRV FTH

4/5/6

RES

4/5/6

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Tempo When an ally starts their Fulmination while within the burst 2 of the Singer they gain SPD+1.

GAMBITS (d6) 1 2-3 4-5 6

Inflict Violence: Kudyapi Strum the strings: Area Air Faith attack vs all targets in blast 3, Rush all allies in the blast

GAMBITS (d6)

Stride > Order [1]: 1 ally in range 2 may Stride > Inflict Violence Inspire [1]: Heal 1 adjacent ally > Inflict Violence > Rouse [1]: Give 1 ally in range 3 SPD+1 Stride > Brave [2]: All allies in line of sight gain BRV+1 Order [1]: 1 ally in range 2 may Stride > Break [2]: All allies in burst 2 may inflict violence.

1

Stride > Quickening Ambahan [2]: All allies in burst 2 gain SPD+1 x2. Stride > Exalt [2]: Heal 1 all allies in blast 3 Stride > War Song [2]: All allies in line of sight gain the aggressive stance until they are attacked. When attacked, they can choose to roll their BRV or FTH instead of Defense, rolling Hits against the attacker instead of Defends Encore [3]: After the Singer ends their Fulmination, an NPC gets to Fulminate, and they get a +1d to their next attack

2-3 4-5

6

SAINT

JUDGE

Wisefolk that grant teachings and guidance to their allies, using mudras and incantations.

Holy warriors that protect allies and grant them strength, punishing wicked foes.

MARTIAL ABILITIES

MARTIAL ABILITIES

HP

5/6/7

POS

3/4/5

HP

5/6/7

POS

3/4/5

BRV

2/3/4

RES

4/5/6

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

FTH

4/5/6

SPD

3/4/5

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Guidance

Inflict Violence: Enlightened Palm

All allies in burst 2 of the Saint Break through with a burning has +1d to all attacks. palm: Melee Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in Line 3, 1 ally that can be seen gets +1d on their next attack.

Trait: Karma

When an ally is attacked while Strike down with a lionwithin burst 2, inflict 1 Hit to headed mace: melee metal the attacker afterwards. Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 3. Give them SPD-1. GAMBITS (d6)

GAMBITS (d6) 1 2-3

4-5

6

Inflict Violence: Imposition Gada

1

Stride > Enlighten [1]: All allies in burst 2 gain FTH+1 > Inflict Violence Stride > Purification [2]: Mark all allies in burst 2 indefinitely. A marked ally can only suffer 1 Hit on the next attack against them, they then lose the mark. Stride > Love [1]: 1 ally in range 3 gains POS+2 and RES+2. > Lightning [1]: All enemies adjacent to any ally with any Ability Modifier suffers 1 True Hit. Temporary Nirvana [3]: 1 ally in range 3 becomes immune to all hits on the next attack.

2-3 4-5 6

87

Law of Siwa-Batala Reality [3]: Teleport 3 all allies in the battlefield. Stride > Eradicate Maya [2]: Cleanse all chosen effects from a single ally within line of sight Rush 3 > Place Altar [2]: Place a Size 1 Altar in an adjacent square. All allies adjacent to the altar discard the first Hit against them. Law of Wisnu-Hari Reality [3]: All enemies in the field are marked. When the marked enemy makes an attack during their turn, Stop them immediately, and then 1 True Hit. They then lose the Mark.

VIOLENCE

Chief Types Chiefs are the most powerful of warriors, great enemies, bearers of immortality. When Kadungganan face Chiefs, they face powerful movers and shakers of the world, and they are meant to feel the consequences of facing such powerful combatants. The Chiefs have a number of mechanics that make them more difficult to fight. Chiefs are usually equal to 5 Kadungganan. If you have to scale down to accommodate less number of Kadungganan, lower their HP by 5 per Kadungganan less than 5. Chiefs also have 3 Traits instead of just 1. Chief Innate Traits Poise. Whenever a Chief suffers a Bane or is forcibly moved, they gain a Poise Token instead. When they gain 8 Poise Tokens, they become Poise Broken: they suffer Banes, can be forcibly moved as normal, and cannot gain any more Poise Tokens. They lose 2 Poise Tokens every start of Fulmination. When they lose all Poise Tokens, they can again gain Poise Tokens again and lose Poise Broken. Chief Eye. Chiefs have 4 Beats instead of 3 and they can Fulminate a number of times in a Strike equal to the number of Kadungganan. Phases. Chiefs have 2-3 Phases. They start at Phase 1 and their other Phases are triggered when they are Staggered.

88

VIOLENCE SWORDMASTER A master of the art of slashing, who has sliced a coconut tree in a single swing. Fear their name. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP POS 3/4/5 BRV 7/9/11 RES 3/4/5 FTH 5/6/7 SPD 6/6/6 TRAITS INFLICT VIOLENCE Blade Barrier: +1 Defend Heirloom Blade: Strike down against all ranged attacks. with an heirloom blade, sending cutting winds in a line. Parry: Once per Strike, the Melee Metal Bravery attack vs Swordmaster may declare that all targets in Line 3, may Rush 1 they Parry when the target of a before or after the attack melee attack. When they Parry, every 6+ on their Defense Teeth count as 2 Defends. 5 x Kadungganan

Sword Fields: After making a melee attack, place a single Size 1/2 Sword object in a square adjacent to the target. GAMBITS (Nd8) PHASE 1: SHEATHED BLADE 1-2 Stride > Inflict Violence > Shield Break [2]: Inflict POS-1 to 1 adjacent fighter. 3-4 Stride > Inflict Violence > Sword Break [2]: Inflict BRV-1 to 1 adjacent fighter. 5-6 Stride > Judgment Cut [2]: Area Metal Bravery Attack vs all targets in range 3 burst1 > Mind Break [2]: Inflict FTH-1 to 1 adjacent fighter. 7-8 Stride > Inflict Violence > Time Break [2]: Inflict SPD-1 to 1 adjacent fighter. PHASE 2: UNSHEATHED SWORD (WHEN STAGGERED, TRIGGER PHASE 2 IMMEDIATELY). 1-2 Teleport adjacent to any Sword > Inflict Violence > Sword God: Inflict 1 Hit on all enemies adjacent to each Sword 3-4 Stride > Braver [1]: Gain BRV+1 > Inflict Violence > Sword Dance [1]: All swords in the battlefield inflict 1 Hit on all enemies adjacent to them. 5-6 Teleport 3 > Judgment Cut [2]: Area Metal Bravery Attack vs all targets in range 3 burst 1 > Sword Dance [1]: All swords in the battlefield inflict 1 Hit on all enemies adjacent to them. 7-8 Teleport 5 > Inflict Violence > Juggling Sword [1]: Push 3, if the target collides, pull 2 then Inflict Violence with Skewering, ignoring CB 9-10 Makaobus Annihilating Sword: Bulandahas [4]: Inflict 1 True Hit to all enemies adjacent to the Swordmaster and every Sword on the field, then all Swords are destroyed, and the Swordmaster may teleport to any of the Sword’s former squares.

89

VIOLENCE BARIL GUNDEVIL Powerful gunslingers that wield all sorts of firearms to adapt to a wide variety of situations. They can summon powerful cannons, arquebuses, and dragoon pistols to destroy enemies, both from afar and from up close. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 4x POS 3/4/5 Kadungganan BRV 7/9/11 RES 3/4/5 FTH 5/6/7 SPD 4/5/6 TRAITS INFLICT VIOLENCE Multigun: Does not suffer Dullness for any ranged attacks and ignores Combo Breaker on ranged attacks. Quick Reload: Reroll all 1s on Attack Teeth. Bombardier: All area attacks have +1 Hit.

GUNSLINGER: Choose 1 when Inflict Violence: Arquebus: Ranged Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 7 Lantaka: Area Water Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 4 Burst 1 Terakul: Area Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in blast 3

GAMBITS (d6) Phase 1: Gun Master 1-2

Stride > Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence 3-4 Inflict Violence > Rainstorm [1]: Rush 5 and then inflict 1 True Hit to all enemies in burst 1 at any point in the movement > Rusak Astra [2]: Inflict 1 Hit on any fighter in the battlefield 5-6 Stride > Lawana Sinigida’s Astra [2]: Area Fire Bravery+Faith Attack vs all targets in Line 7 > Rush Phase 2: GUN GOD CHANNELING (Immediately trigger after hitting Staggered) 1 Stride > Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence 2 Inflict Violence > Rainstorm [1]: Rush 5 and then inflict 1 True Hit to all enemies in burst 1 at any point in the movement > Rainstorm [1] > Rainstorm [1] 3 Stride > Lawana Sinigida’s Astra [2]: Area Fire Bravery+Faith Attack vs all targets in Line 7 > Rusak Astra [1]: Inflict 1 Hit on any fighter in the battlefield 4 Nataraja Gunslinger [1]: Rush 4, then gain SPD+1 and all ranged attacks ignore cover and don’t require line of sight > Rusak Astra [1] > Rainstorm [1] > Vritra Chases Indra [1]: Area Fire Bravery+Faith Attack vs all chosen targets in path 7 5 Stride > Indrastra [3]: Area Fire Bravery+Faith Attack vs all chosen targets in Blast 5, Overwhelming 6 Vajra Bullet Hell [4]: Give all enemies in the battlefield 3 Aim. When they leave a square, they suffer 1 True Hit and then discard an Aim.

90

VIOLENCE NAVADIKPALA Powerful warriors that guard not just the eight, but nine directions. Many of them are attributed with supreme devotion, and are thus said to have the merit of BATALA the Supreme Auspicious God. The term Nava-Dikpala is given only to the greatest of warriors, those that have given their lives to their Devarajas and will not hesitate to die for them. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6x [Kadungganan]

POS

5/6/7

BRV

5/6/7

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

4/4/4

TRAITS Verumkai Master: The Navadikpala is immune to Unbalance and Stun. Perfect Vadivu: Whenever the Navadikpala is attacked, they may Inflict Violence back at the attacker, no matter the range. Once per Fulmination. Pervasive Kalari: Marked fighters suffer SPD-1. Inflict Violence: Kali Panabas Cleave the earth with the panabas of the goddess of destruction: melee metal Bravery Attack vs all chosen targets in blast 2, mark all targets. GAMBITS (d10) Phase 1: Channel Rudra 1-3

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence > Shove

4-6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Distract [1]: Provoke 1 target in range 2 > Shove 7-8 Stride > Inflict Violence > Makapulao Facet [1]: Inflict a Slow on 1 target in range 2. > Shield Up [1]: Gain POS+1. 9-10 Laho Swallows The Sun [4]: Take on the SunSwallowing Stance. While in the Stance, gain POS+1 and RES+1. When a fighter moves into an adjacent square, consume the stance to grab the target and leap into the air, removing both this fighter and the target from play. At start of next Strike, both suffer 4 True Hits and return to their original positions. Phase 2: Ninth Direction of Siva (Trigger when Staggered immediately) 1-2 Stride > Inflict Violence > Barricade [2]: Gain 2 Defends. 3-4 Laho Swallows The Sun [4]: Take on the SunSwallowing Stance. While in the Stance, gain POS+1 and RES+1. When a fighter moves into an adjacent square, consume the stance to grab the target and leap into the air, removing both this fighter and the target from play. At start of next Strike, both suffer 4 True Hits and return to their original positions. 5-6 Pagwaagan’s Blessing [1]: Choose a single fighter within line of sight. Leap to an adjacent sq > Lakanbakod’s Wall [2]: Place a wall terrain in one side of the target’s square 7-8 Wisnu Ward [2]: Gain Block 5. As long as the Navadikpala has this Block, whenever they suffer an attack, they inflict 1 True Hit back at the attacker before their attack resolves. > Durga’s Call To Glory [1]: Stride and then Provoke 1 all adjacent enemies. 9-10 Hari’s Glory [4]: Mark all enemies in the Battlefield indefinitely. While marked, they are suffer Provoke from the Navadikpala, and the Navadikpala deals +1d to them. When a mark does not deal damage to the Navadikpala at the end of their Fulmination, they suffer 1 True Hit.

91

VIOLENCE ASWANG The most powerful of witches, who gain potence by channeling gods just as with any other shaman, but also by gaining personal power through eating livers of humans, wherein they gain enough Gahom, personal spiritual power, to energize their most powerful of sorceries: shapeshifting, flight, fire-summoning, and bisection. To harness this much Gahom, they must have a vessel, which is an item known as the Itim Na Sisiw, or Black Raptorling. Elder Aswang can create more Itim Na Sisiw, and anyone that obtains the Itim Na Sisiw of an aswang gains the power of aswang themselves. However, very often, they have to accustom themselves to this power, so they still must train. Those who have swallowed an Itim Na Sisiw are known as Yanggaw, or “Newly Infected.” When an aswang relinquishes their Itim Na Sisiw, they die. While they have the Itim Na Sisiw, they are functionally immortal. To the Ashinin Missionaries, the Asuwang are said to tap into the power of the Deva, able to harness Maya. However, this power is not for mortals to wield. Or at least, not for uncultivated mortals. Very often, outside of the most elder of aswang, most aswang become possessed of a dangerous and murderous power that they cannot control. This is often more common when a witch swallows the Itim Na Sisiw of elder aswang. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

POS

3/4/5

BRV

4x Kadungganan 3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

7/8/9

SPD

4/5/6

TRAITS

Tanggal: When Striding, the Aswang Flies. They can choose to bisect themselves, making it so that they occupy the square they left as well as the square they Stride into. At the beginning of the next Fulmination, the other half returns: choose 1 square to which the Aswang chooses to stay in, and then remove the other half. Maya: Whenever inflicting Banes, also inflict 1 True Hit and Slide 1. Wicked Argent Witch: All ranged attacks against the Aswang have Dullness, and they may Rush 1 afterward. When bringing an Enemy to 0 HP, heal 1. INFLICT VIOLENCE Witchery: Area Air Faith Attack vs All chosen targets in Blast 5, Slide 3, Inflict Fray. GAMBITS (d12) Phase 1: Wicked Witcheries 1-3 4-6 7-9 10-11

12

Stride > Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence > Stride Teleport 5 > Inflict Violence > Night Veil [1]: Gain a Cover against the next attack > Shatter Hex [1]: Inflict BRV-2 and FTH-2. Stride > Dog Shapeshift [1]: Gain SPD+1 x2, inflict SPD-1 on all enemies in burst 2 > Stride > Inflict Violence Stride > Demon Bird Shapeshift [1]: Teleport 3 and then gain Vantage on all attacks until end of next Fulmination > Hokot [1]: Inflict 1 True Hit to all enemies in line 6 > Inflict Violence Stride > Rakshasa Hex [3]: Inflict 2 of the each: SPD-1, Eviscerate, Unbalance, POS-2, and RES2 to 1 target in range 5

Phase 2: Power of the Crone (Trigger immediately when Staggered) 1-3 Dog Shapeshift [1]: Gain SPD+1 x2, inflict SPD-1 on all enemies in burst 2 > Stride > Inflict Violence > Night Veil [1]: Gain a Cover against the next attack 4-6 Stride > Dog Shapeshift [1]: Gain SPD+1 x2, inflict SPD-1 on all enemies in burst 2 > Demon Bird Shapeshift [1]: Teleport 3 and then gain Vantage on all attacks until end of next Fulmination > Hokot [1]: Inflict 1 True Hit to all enemies in line 6 7-9 Stride > Rakshasa Hex [3]: Inflict 2 of the each: SPD-1, Eviscerate, Unbalance, POS-2, and RES-2 to 1 target in range 5 > Hokot [1]: Inflict 1 True Hit to all enemies in line 6 10-11 Asura Shapeshift [2]: Gain Overwhelming and Skewering to all attacks until end of next Strike, and gain FTH+2 x3 > Inflict Cursed Ajna [2]: Inflict 1 True Hit on all enemies in the battlefield, and give each POS-2 12 Mahakala Swallowing [4]: Inflict Doom x5 on each enemy in the field. When a fighter removes the last Doom, they are immediately Defeated. Trigger this automatically at the beginning of Strike 5. Cannot stack Doom: whenever Mahakala Swallowing is performed again, simply Stun all fighters with Doom.

92

VIOLENCE KATUURAN Katuuran are elder shaman, head priests of a city-state, probably even deified at death. Many Katuuran walk around a state with a long crowd of assistant shamans. Katuuran would conduct the most important rituals, and more importantly channel the most important of the gods. Sometimes they would even attempt to speak with the Supreme, Beings that are very often not to be spoken to. However, they are also purveyors of devotion, they lead their flock to the right path to let them accrue spiritual merit. Both spiritual merit and devotion to the ancestors are important to the spiritual cultivation of mortals. These warriors are the greatest of sages, many of them would be considered as bodhisattvas, saints, and brahmin. Many Katuuran are Nibatala, Nihari, or Nilawana. Nibatala comes from NI (of a person) + BATALA (the Supreme Noble Lord). BATALA is another name for SIWU, and is commonly believed by the commonfolk to be the Supreme God, in contrast to the aristocrat and court religion of NIHARI, who believe in HARI or WISNU as the Supreme Reality. Warriors very often invoke LAWANA SINIGIDA, the first warrior, an ancestral god in the Isles, who is said to have been an avatar of KALAKATRI The Undefeatable, the Murderous Aspect of RAYADEWI the Great Mother Goddess, the Primordial Energy of the Universe. Katuuran that are devotees of Lawana are known as Nilawana. Many Katuuran, alongside the greatest of Barani, become gods upon death, ancestral deities similar to Buddhas. They have attained glory through conviction. They who have reached heaven by violence. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

POS

4/5/6

BRV

5x Kadungganan 3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

FTH

4/5/6

SPD

3/4/4

TRAITS Spirit Summons: Every start of Fulmination, choose 1 to summon: Raider Minion, Sharpshooter Minion, Sentinel Minion, Witch Minion Xenoglossy: All spirit minions can be used as origin points for any effect or attack. Whenever a spirit minion gains a Boon, Block, Skewering, or Overwhelming, the Katuuran gains it as well. If the Katuuran moves into a spirit minion’s square, the spirit minion is removed from play and the Katuuran heals 1. INFLICT VIOLENCE: ULTRA SPIRIT Exude enlightenment: Area Fire Faith attack vs all chosen targets in burst 2, all allies in the burst gain brv+2 and fth+2 GAMBITS (d6) Phase 1: Channel Spirits 1-2: Stride > Inflict Violence > Evoke [2] All minions in the field may Inflict Violence 3: Teleport 3 > Law of Siwa-Batala Reality [3]: Teleport 3 all allies in the battlefield. 4: Spirit Tunnel [1]: Switch places with a minion in the field, teleporting > Inflict Violence > Lesser Evoke [1]: 1 minion in the field may inflict violence 5: Stride > Thunderbolt Vehicle [2]: All allies in burst 3 may inflict violence with +1 Hit > God Lightning [1]: Inflict 1 Hit on a single enemy in the battlefield, consume any number of effects to deal 1 Hit per effect consume 6: Teleport 5 > Place Altar [2]: Place a Size 1 Altar in an adjacent square. All allies adjacent to the altar discard the first Hit against them. > Slide 3 an enemy in range 4

Phase 2: Channel Gods (Trigger immediately when Staggered) 1-2 3 4 5 6

93

Stride > Inflict Violence > Evoke [2] All minions in the field may Inflict Violence Stride > War Spirit Summons [2]: All allies in burst 2 gain Block 3 and Skewering until the end of their next Fulmination. > Inflict Violence Stride > Channel Lawana [2]: The Katuuran and all allies in the field may teleport 3, then gain POS+2 and RES+2 x3 each > Inflict Violence Stride > Channel Lakapati [3]: All enemies in burst 2’s next attack cannot gain more than 1 Hit. Channel Batala [4]: The Katuuran and all allies in the field gain Overwhelming until the end of the next Strike. The Katuuran then summons 3 more minions, and raises 5 squares up to +2 Elevation.

VIOLENCE

Enemy Origins The world of Gubat Banwa is as beautiful as it is vast. Not all the fighters the Kadungganan will encounter will be random raiders or traveling warriors. Very often they will be from something. This is indicated by their Origin, which is commonly placed in front of their name. Origins are very commonly not used in the first few sessions. Use them when your Kadungganan are ready for some more complexity and interesting situations in your fights. In later Arcs, Origins will become almost mandatory to be able to keep up with the sheer number of abilities that a Kadungganan can take. This will feature the following Origins: Pale Kings, Folk Beasts, Demons, and Gods. The several Region Factions in the later World section has even more Origins.

Pale Kings Issohappa is a far west Empire in the Far West Tooth of the World Jaws. The World Jaws has four cardinal teeth, which in other The Sword Isles traditions are known as the Pillars of the World, for they hold up the firmament. Each Pillar has its own diwata, who is powerful on their own right. It is said that a small number of people from The Sword Isles sailed there during the creation of the world and populated it. However, they were quickly subjugated by an invading force of pale-skinned, knifeeared, 7-foot tall humanoids, who had crimson eyes and platinum hair. These beings called themselves Realiza Palida, the Pale Royalty. And they believed their birthright is GUBAT BANWA. All of it. They stride forward with their Bleeding Star Emperor, who sits upon his Astral Throne. The Emperor is counseled by a Senate. There are five Grand Senators in all, each one being the head of a different Ministry: War, Justice, Health, Commerce and People. The current Emperor is Fal-Sidolfus XII, The 108th Star of Heaven, long may he reign. In the Issohappan calendar, it is the 1521st Year after the Resurrection of the Sanguine Prophet. Those of the Aristocracy, the Senators, Ministers, Nobles, and Dukes, are all Pale Kings or have Pale King blood in them. No Pale King ever becomes disenfranchised, although there are some that might have gained their own conscience and deserted Issohappa’s war machine. Beneath the Aristorcracy are the peasants: farmers, conscripts, bandits. They live in duchies and farmlands, all under Pale King regents, knights, and dukes. These are almost always mortals, non-Pale Kings. Issohappa has a standing army, composed of fusileers, pikemen, and cavalry. They have a naval contingent as well as an aerial contingent, which ride upon BloodDrakes, flying bat-like creatures summoned from the Bloody Heart of the Weeping Mother, an artificecathedral at the heart of the Empire.

94

The Empire’s Capital is Yavum. It is carved out of the corpse of the Far West Pillar of the Earth, after the Pale Kings slew the Far West Pillar’s Diwata, Buyung Kanluranung Sangsangga. The Pillar has been replaced with the Bell Tower of the Heaven-Piercing Star, the centerpiece of the Royal Palace-Cathedral known as the Mangled Hand of God, for it resembles a mangled claw reaching to heaven. It is made of bones and ghostsforged-into-steel. The Mangled Hand of God still twitches, and the Bleeding Star Emperor lives within. Issohappa, led by the Pale King, has been expanding further to the center, where the Center Pillar of Gubat Banwa stands, known as Mount Apu. Here they believe that they will find the ruling spirit of Yutadagat, and they will be able to fully rule the rest of Yutadagat. The Pale Kings are ever hungry for power, for riches, treasure, capital. They send merchants to Iyamat and Baik Hu. They believe that sending missionaries to these heathen lands will cure them of their Sin of Ignorance, and the entire world will be placed under a single name and empire, which must be done before the return of the Sanguine Chosen. To that end they have had no qualms in decimating entire populations, or destroying entire cultures that do not adhere with their Ashen Star belief. The Pale Kings’ religion is known as Astraiman, the Bleeding Star Faith. Astraiman teaches that the world is owned by the Prince of Lies, and that everything that does not adhere to the sacred Iero Viv, their holiest book, must be plunged into flames, as it belongs in Hell. The Church is led by Supreme Pontiff, the one whose blood is chosen by the Chosen. The Supreme Pontiff is gifted with overwhelming spiritual power. There have been some infighting going on in the ideologies of the Pale Kings as of late. None of the ideologies are beneficial to Gubat Banwa. They have come close to colonizing The Sword Isles once, when they managed to invade Virbanwa. With concerted effort, they were driven back. Some contingents and deserters still linger within The Sword Isles, and Virbanwa has no doubt suffered and internalized the suffering brought upon them by Issohappa. The Pale Kings influence cannot be understated, cannot be avoided. Issohappa has left the islands for now. But they will return. Through The Sword Isles, their Reconquista will triumph, and all of Gubat Banwa will be theirs.

VIOLENCE

Pale King Origin Template Glory to the Sidereal Banner: At the beginning of violence, for every Pale King fighter on the field, also place down 3 Slave Minions adjacent to the Pale King. Bloody Angel Thesis: When a Pale King fighter is Defeated, they become an Angel: they heal 3 HP, become immune to all damage until the end of their next Fulmination, and then gain +2d on all attacks. The Threat of Capital: All Pale Kings are Braves. Stolen Reliquary: Pale Kings steal holy items from the places they go into. All Pale Kings have +1 Hit on all attacks and All Conditioning. The first time they are Staggered in combat removes these benefits.

95

VIOLENCE Pale King Origin Fighters

SLAVE

All Pale King Origin Fighters have the Pale King Template. LANZA DE ESTRELLAS, ROYAL STARLIGHT LANCE

“Oi! Get ur arse back here. The Pale is calling us again! We’ve no time to be dallying. Who fucking cares if your fingers are falling off? There’s gold!” MARTIAL ABILITIES

“O, see me, O Lord of Stars. See what mine faith hast turned me into! Witness my sanguine flesh, the lions grafted upon my putrid flesh. The rotten skin turned black. I am turned monster, sailing across the stars. Is this what thou wisheth upon thine flock? Hast thou forgotten me? Has thou... FORSAKEN ME? I hath been of utmost faith, I hath worked most tirelessly, to accomplish the mission of the Church! I am nothing without thee. Thou hast made me NOTHING WITHOUT THEE. HOW CANST THOU FORSAKE ME, THOU MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT?

HP

1 (Minion)

POS

2/3/4

BRV

2/3/4

RES

2/3/4

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/5

FTH Trait: Mob

While adjacent to other slaves, Chop savagely: Melee Earth gain +1d to all Teeth. Bravery Attack vs 1 close target GAMBITS (d8) 1-3 Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

O, Holy Lance of Starlight, thou hast been by my side all this time. Come and let us bring upon ruin upon the heathens. Perhaps, once the great Church and Hellstar has scourged all of Gubat Banwa, canst mine own calvary end. Maybe then I can rest.

4-6 Stride > Inflict Violence > Shove 7-8 Stride > Inflict Violence > Whack [1]: Inflict 1 Hit on 1 adjacent fighter

I fear I will never find rest. The great Star hath work for me even in death. It is my work that matters to them. It is my function. ‘Tis the only Nirvana.”

CAZADOR DE DIOSES, ROYAL HUNTSMAN

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

12/14/16

POS

3/3/3

BRV

7/8/9

RES

3/3/3

FTH

7/8/9

SPD

6/6/6

Trait: Carry Out The Great Commission Ignore all terrain and height, as well as cover. All attacks against non-Pale Kings always have Sharpness.

Inflict Violence: Rusty Blade

Inflict Violence: Holy Starlight Lance

“O, mighty Star God, I am wreathed in shadow. I am the blade of the Church and the arrow loosed from the bow of the Crown. I am the greatest weapon, the srike upon the heathens. When I have chosen my prey, I will not stop until they are dead. My head is that of an Astral Owl, and my skin is as black as a starless night. I stand towering over others, and my appendages are slender like branches of trees, and my jaw hangs slack. My bow is my spine. I am the shadow at the corner of thine eyes. Ye are my prey.” MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 10/12/14 POS 2/3/4 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 6/6/6 Trait: Sidereal Bullet Cazador Inflict Violence: Sidereal Rifle

Summon a lance of fulminating starburst: Melee Fire Bravery attack vs all targets in Line 2

GAMBITS (d8) 1-2 Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence 3-4 Stride > Inflict Violence > Arrows From The Stars [1]: Area Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in range 3 burst 1 5-6 Stride > Sidereal Blessing Sword [1]: Area Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in Blast 5 > Pain [1] Melee Fire Bravery Attack vs 1 target in blast 5 7-8 With This Lance I Shall Skewer Your Heathen Gods [3]: Make the following attack twice: Melee Fire Bravery+Faith Attack vs all targets in range 5 Line 6

Attacking marked targets Sharpness. All melee attacks against the Cazador suffer Dullness. 1-2 3-4

5 6

96

Fire an astral bullet: Ranged Fire Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 15, Skewering, Mark each target

GAMBITS (d6) Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence Teleport 5 > Inflict Violence > Shadeflesh [1]: Gain cover until end of next Fulmination. When suffering any damage while in cover, inflict 1 Hit to all enemies in burst 2. Aim [1]: Sunder 2 all Marks. > Arrows From Heaven [2]: Inflict Violence twice, ignoring CB. Bounty [2]: Mark all enemies in burst 5. > It’s In The Walls [1]: Inflict 1 True Hit on every marked fighter, no matter the mark.

VIOLENCE ESTRELLA HIDALGO, THE ROYAL STARLIGHT KNIGHT

OBISPO SANGRADO, THE PRIEST OF THE BLEEDING GOD

“I am a hidalgo. A noble knight with mine own holdings, land, estate, and squires in their Homeland in the far western continent of Issohappa. I travel far and wide to fill my days with adventure. I can do this, for I am the ruler of the world. My ancestors are the greatest of kings, who hath conquered the world, and I shall carry on their greatness.

“O, ye mighty blades of the church. Mine hands and feet have been cut off from me, lest they do evil before the face of God. I am placed upon the world to eradicate sin. If thou art pure, if thou art free, then thou shalt not fear. If thou are ignorant, then thou canst be saved. If thou chooseth blasphemy and heresy, then the greatest of cognito hazards upon thee. The Mighty Lord shall unleash the Smiling Angels upon thee, for upon the bosom of God there is no Hell. There is only God. There is only God.”

I am star-knighted rightfully the Emperor himself. My soul has been BLASTED OUT OF MY PUTRID BODY AND REPLACED WITH THE SHARD OF GOD!

MARTIAL ABILITIES

I... I sit upon a steed of starclouds built from mine own sidereal rituals. They travel to The Sword Isles in hopes of conquering it once again for the Crown. Ye shall bow before the Lord.” MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

14/16/18

POS

5/6/7

BRV

3/4/5

RES

5/6/7

FTH

4/5/6

SPD

6/6/6

Trait: Astral Steed The Hidalgo is Size 2. All squares adjacent to the Hidalgo is dangerous terrain for enemies, and they ignore dangerous and difficult terrain. They always have 1 Defend against all Hits on all times.

Inflict Violence: Astral Saber Swing with a sword made of burning supernova: Melee Fire Faith Attack, All targets in Blast 3

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

4-6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Burning Star Shield [1]: Gain Block 3. When this Block is destroyed, inflict 1 True Hit on all enemies in the field. Horrid Visages [1]: Provoke a fighter in range 3. While Provoked, they are considered as suffering Slow > Stride > Smite [1]: Melee Fire Bravery+Faith Attack, 1 adjacent target, if target has Provoke, attack has Overwhelming Damascene [3]: Place a Starblade above all fighters in the battlefield. At any point, the sword can be made to fall upon the enemy to deal 1 True Hit.

7-9

10

8/10/12

POS

2/3/4

2/3/4

RES

3/4/5

FTH

6/7/8

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: The Smiling Face Of The Bleeding God

Inflict Violence: Reprimand

Whenever the Obispo hits Rebuke the heathens with a with an area attack, also inflict snarling word: Area Fire Faith Pacification. Attack vs all targets in range 3 burst 1 Pacification: You can never deal more than 1 Hit. When you suffer damage, you suffer all Hits as True hits, and then you lose Pacification. GAMBITS (d12)

GAMBITS (d10) 1-3

HP BRV

1-3

Stride > Inflict Violence > Stride

4-6

Teleport 5 > Inflict The Fear of God [1]: Inflict Unbalance x2 and Fire Vulnerability to 1 target in range 3 > Inflict Violence Teleport 5 > The Horrifying Fate of The Sanguine Orphan [2]: Inflict a Ruin on 1 target in range 3.

7-9

10-12

97

Ruin: Your HP becomes 1 for the duration of Doom. If you are brought to 0 HP, lose Ruin. Screaming Scorn Sermon [3]: Inflict 1 True Hit and Stun on all chosen targets in burst 3.

VIOLENCE CLERIC, THE SPEAKER TO ANGELS “I speak to God and I am in immense pain. God has told me to pierce myself in swords. I must keep bleeding to speak with Him. I must speak with Him. If I do not, then I will die. I see His face in every crimson surface. I cannot see. The Smiling Angels guard me, they protect me, I preach to my flock and my flock nods and follows and they achieve revelation. I am a saint. Please save me. My body is not mine own. I speak to God.” MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

12/16/18

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Angel-Body

Inflict Violence: Angelic Flail

The Cleric is chained within the corpse of an angel. They have Fire, Water, Air and Earth Conditioning. They lose this Conditioning when Staggered. All allies in burst 2 of the Cleric gain +1 to all Martial Abilities. Whenever the Cleric moves through a Slave, they may consume the Slave to heal 1.

Herd your flock! Melee Fire Faith Attack: 1 target in burst 2, slide target to any square in burst 2

GAMBITS (d6) 1-2 3-4

5 6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Call [1]: Summon 1 Slave minion in a square in burst 2. Fly 5 > Holy Blade [1]: Inflict Violence, mayuse any Slave in the field as the origin > Blessing [1]: Consume all Slaves in burst 2 to heal 1 per Slave. Fly 5 > Gravitas [2]: Area Earth Bravery+Faith Attack vs 1 all targets in burst 3, inflict Stop x2, then gain Float x2. Summon Smiling Angel [3]: Summon any nonOrigin Enemy Type in a square adjacent. This enemy has +1 to all Martial Abilities.

98

VIOLENCE DEMIURGE (Chief) God. Or perhaps, one of His many avatars. Lion-headed. Eyes of exploding stars. Bleeding azure. Whatever it is, the Demiurge is the Head of the Sanguine Church, and is commonly equal in power to the Emperor. Granted the power of Creation. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6 x Kadungganan

POS

7/7/7

BRV

7/7/7

RES

7/7/7

FTH

7/7/7

SPD

7/7/7

CHIEF TRAITS Diamond Body: The Demiurge is immune to all attacks if they have at least 2 allies adjacent to them. They are also immune to gaining any Poise Tokens and only gain Poise Tokens whenever a Slave in the battlefield is Defeated. Creative Power: The Demiurge may summon 1 Slave in the battlefield every start of Fulmination. As long as there are Slaves in the field, the Demiurge cannot be Defeated. Perfect Son of Chaos, Taker of Gnosis: The Demiurge is always Floating. Whenever they gain Poise Tokens, inflict 1 Hit on all enemies in the battlefield, and heal 1, 1/Fulmination INFLICT VIOLENCE God of Control: Area Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in range 3 burst 2, slide 2 GAMBITS (d6) Phase 1: Prophet 1

Stride > Inflict Violence > Summon Book of Commandments [2]: Summon a Ritualist Minion in range 2. 2 Stride > Inflict Violence > Summon Shield of Conviction [2]: Summon a Guardian Minion in range 2. 3 Stride > Inflict Violence > Summon Sword of Lightning [2]: Summon a Saint Minion in range 2. 4 Stride > Inflict Violence > Summon Kettlebell of Love [2]: Summon a Saint Minion in range 2. 5-6 Apocalypsis [4]: Inflict 2 True Hits to all enemies in burst 3. All Minions can be defeated to deal 1 True Hit to all enemies adjacent to the Minion. Phase 2: Yaldabaoth (Trigger immediately when Staggered) 1 Teleport 5 > Summon Book of Commandments [2]: Summon a Ritualist Minion in range 2 > Summon Shield of Conviction [1]: Summon a Guardian Minion in range 2. 2 Teleport 5 > Summon Sword of Lightning [1]: Summon a Saint Minion in range 2. > Summon Kettlebell of Love [1]: Summon a Saint Minion in range 2. > Inflict Violence 3 Fly 5 > Wield The Sword of Faith [1]: All allies in the battlefield gain BRV/FTH+1 > Hosanna! [1]: All allies in the battlefield gain POS/RES+1. > Inflict Violence 4 Fly 5 > Go! Ye Blades of the Church! [3]: All allies in the battlefield may Inflict Violence. 5 Fly 5 > Go Forth And Spread The Word of God [3]: All allies in the battlefield may Rush 3 and then heal 1. 6 Give Your Bodies To God For Greater Apocalypsis [4]: All allies in the battlefield are Defeated, and the Demiurge heals 1 per defeated Ally, and then inflict 3 True Hits to all enemies adjacent to the Demiurge and each Defeated ally.

99

VIOLENCE Folk

Gatusan Origin Fighters

Folk are those that fight and try to prove their Convictions. Each Folk is a warrior and has their own love and lightning. Their own ideals, their own hopes and dreams. Be careful when fighting folk: these are your own. Send them to nirvana, or to hell, or to the great mountains of Madjaas: you continue the great cycle of Violence.

All Gatusan Origin Fighters have the Gatusan Template. KALIS Warriors that wield kalises, consecrated weapons filled with spiritual power. They are filled with the hotblooded strength of their leaders. Kalises are awarded only to the best of swordsmen. MARTIAL ABILITIES

Folk Origin Template Conviction. All Folk have a reason for fighting, and if reasoned to, can cause them to rethink combat. However, they will fight for their Conviction until it looks like all is bleak. Morale. Folk have something to live for. At the beginning of any Strike where there are twice as many Kadungganan than there are enemies (eg., If there are 4 Kadungganan and 2 Enemies left) all Folk enemies will Surrender, becoming Defeated. Unbreakable. Some Folk might have Unbreakable Morale, which replaces their Morale trait. This means they will fight to the death.

The Mahamandalas

HP

5/6/7

POS

3/4/5

BRV

5/7/9

RES

3/4/4

FTH

3/5/6

SPD

6/7/8

Trait: Blade Grace

1-2

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

3-4

Stride > Inflict Violence > Gatling [1]: Inflict Violence, ignoring CB Blade Streak [2]: Rush SPD in a straight line, inflict 1 Hit to every enemy moved through > Inflict Violence Vajra Sword [2]: Rush SPD+2 inflicting 1 Hit on every enemy the Kalis becomes adjacent to during the movement, 1 enemy per Fulmination > Inflict Violence

5-6

There are five Mahamandalas, the five great mandalas of the Sword Isles. Most fighters of the mahamandalas are Folk. If for any reason they are of the mahamandala but they are not folk (perhaps a culture god) then they have Unbreakable Morale.

Gatusan The Rajahnate is made up of 999 Chiefdoms, all pledging allegiance to a single Raja, known as the Raja Batara. The current Raja Batara is a powerful warrior named Ambasi. Each of the chiefdoms are on the brink of statehood. Their mandalas grow. Any single state that gains large amounts of manpower will for be able to challenge Ambasi’s Mandala, which emanates from Kotaraya Kangdaya, or the great City of Kangdaya. Warriors of Gatusan burn with a yearning for gold and glory. For them, Glory is nirvana, it is a transcendent ideal, something that will make them Gods, but something that must forever be chased after. Gatusan Origin Template Each Gatusan fighter has the following mechanic:

JAVELIN Poison dipped spears are the most common form of projectile weapon in Gatusan. Oftentimes deadlier than bullets, as the spears thrown—bamboo with firehardened tips—are hard to get out, embed deeper, and can spread horrible poison. Javelins are a trained class of spear throwers that rival even the best of archers and gunners. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 4/5/6 POS 2/3/4 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 3/3/4 Trait: Pinning Spears Inflict Violence: Throw Javelin When making a Ranged attack Chuck a long javelin: Ranged with vantage, also inflict a Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 SPD-1 target in range 4, then Rush 1 1 2-3 4-5 6

It’s Time To Raid! At the beginning of a Strike, the Gatusan fighters choose a single enemy in the field as their Raid Target. All their attacks against the Raid Target gains Skewering. If that enemy is brought to 0 HP, all Gatusan fighters in the field can heal 1 HP and Rush 1.

100

Strike with a shining ritual weapon: Melee Fire Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target

GAMBITS (d8)

7-8

To make a Folk enemy, choose one of the Enemy Types and apply the Folk Template and one of the Mahamandala Templates below.

Inflict Violence: Kalis

When Striding, inflict 1 Hit to all enemies adjacent before moving.

GAMBITS (d6) Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence Stride > Leap > Inflict Violence Stride > Snake Venom [2]: Ranged Earth Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 5, Fray 1 [+1 per 9+ on the Attack Teeth] Stride > Inflict Violence > Spear Palisade [1]: Put down a wall on any side of any square in range 4.

VIOLENCE KAWACA

LORD

Powerful warriors clad in chainmail (known as kawaca) and crimson kopiah. They wield guns, water-engraved shields, and swords. They make up an elite warrior-class, though not all of them are Kadungganan. Very often they are royal guardians, very close to the warlord that they serve. HP

8/10/12

POS

5/7/9

Lords are chosen by their merit and their might. Even if they come from a long line of kings, if they cannot supply the required righteousness or violence, then they will be taken over by that which deserves it more. Most Lords are on the Path of Glory, fighting and inflicting violence to ensure peace for their family (that is, their entire banwa) as well as to perform great feats of excellence that will cause them to be remembered.

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

MARTIAL ABILITIES

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

MARTIAL ABILITIES

Trait: Readied Shields 8s on Defense Teeth generate 2 Defenses.

Inflict Violence: Lance Strike down with polished spears: Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 2, Slide 1

GAMBITS (d10) 1-3

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

4-6

Stride > Inflict Violence/Push 3 > Inflict Violence/ Push 3 Rush 3, ignoring terrain > Water Buffalo Overwhelm [2]: Melee Earth Bravery Attack vs all enemies in blast 3, inflicting 1 Provoke Stride > Fire! [2]: Area Fire Bravery+Faith Attack vs all enemies in line 5, inflicting Provoke

7-9 10

POS

3/4/5

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Familiar

Inflict Violence: Spite Curse

A size 1 spirit summon begins adjacent to the Cursewitch. Can be used as the origin point for all effects by the Cursewitch. Every start of Fulmination, it may Rush 1.

Utter a breaking curse: Ranged Earth Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 4, inflict POS/RES-1

4-6 7-9 10-12

3/4/5

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/5

1 2-3 4-5 6

GAMBITS (d12) 1-3

3/4/5

RES

Inflict Violence: Cleave Slice with a rending weapon: Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs 2 adjacent targets, then Slide 2

GAMBITS (d6)

MARTIAL ABILITIES 4/5/6

POS

3/4/5

Whenever this fighter starts their Fulmination, it and all allies in burst 2 may Rush 2.

A robed and gowned witch clad in flowers, oils, and golden ornaments. Their spells are fueled by a certain hatred, a certain anger. This passion and strength they harness to supercharge their witchcraft, to strengthen the magickal effects of their hexes upon their foes. HP

6/7/8

Trait: Shout!

CURSEWITCH

BRV

HP BRV

Stride > Inflict Violence > Domination [1]: Slide 1 fighter in range 3 Unlash [1]: Gain Float x2/Stride > Stride/Inflict Violence > Rupturing Curse [1]: Make 1 fighter in range 3 Vulnerable to a single element. Domination [1]: Slide 1 fighter in range 3 > Kindle [2]: Inflict Fray on all enemies in burst 2, and then all squares in the burst become Burning Terrain. Teleport 2 > Summon Witch Mangrove [2]: All spaces in burst 2 explodes into roots, inflicting Stop on every enemy in the burst. Whenever an enemy with Stop starts their Fulmination in the burst, they suffer 1 True Hit. The Field dissipates at the start of next Fulmination, unless sustained with 1 Beat.

101

Mocking Laugh [3]: Inflict 1 damage on each enemy in burst 3, and then inflict Unbalance. Chant: This fighter and all allies in burst 3 gain BRV/FTH+1 > Stride > Inflict Violence Stride > Bodyong [1]: 1 ally in range 3 may Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence Rousing Speech [3]: Gain Skewering on this fighter’s next attack. All allies in burst 3 gains Overwhelming on their next attack.

VIOLENCE

Raja

True Kings are rare in the Sword Isles. They take upon themselves the title of Raja, but taking upon the name does not make one what is named. To shine with righteousness, to break infinities, to offer Devotion that scorches the sky. That is what a Raja must be, and only those true Raja will survive the grueling Final Festival. One such example is Sri Raja Kus-gan Lokapala: one of the burgeoning warrior-braves that has collected a formidable force. His banwa, now known as a Kota (City-Fortress), Kota Binarani, has grown in size and has managed to accrue power and resources from the Sultanate of Akai as well as the kingdoms of Rajakami. His current regnal title means “Lord King Mighty Guardian of the World”. He seeks to overthrow Raja Batara, but he does not seek to rule Gatusan. He seeks to light the flame of enlightenment: he is on the Bodhisattva Path, and he wishes to bring all others with him to true liberation. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6 x Kadungganan

POS

5/6/7

BRV

5/6/7

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

4/4/4

TRAITS

Inflict Violence: Treasure Kalis

Unbreakable: The Raja has Unbreakable Morale unless appealed to their Conviction. Additionally, while they are Poise Broken, they suffer Sunder.

Strike with a sword passed down for generations, burning with its own soul: Melee Fire Bravery Attack vs up to 2 targets in range 2, then mark them.

Perfect Parry: When the Raja completely reduces Hits to 0, they heal When a marked target moves into a square adjacent of the Raja or 1 and may Rush 1. any Allies, they suffer 1 True Hit and then lose the mark. Lotus-Eyed: Every start of Strike, the Raja summons two Kalis Minions of the same Arc. GAMBITS (d10) Phase 1: Righteousness 1-3

Stride > Inflict Violence > Self-Exaltation [2]: Gain BRV+2 > Deflect

4-6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Pure Lands [2]: Put down a burst 1 field that lasts until any fighter is Defeated within the field. While in the field, all enemies have -1 to all Defenses. There can only be 2 Pure Lands at a time. Rush SPD > Righteous King Lance [3]: Melee Fire Bravery+Faith Attack vs all chosen targets in Blast 5

7-9 10

1-2

Stride > Grand Proclamation [3]: Slide all enemies in the field by 3 squares. All enemies then gain Provoke x2. Phase 2: Glory (Triggers when first Poise Broken or Staggered). Immediately heal 20.

3-4 5-6

Stride > Call To Glory [3]: The Raja and all allies Rushes 3 and then gains POS+2 x2, Stability x2, and SPD+1 x2. Stride > Inflict Violence > Gatling [1]: Inflict Violence withou Combo Breaker > Deflect Stride > Inflict Violence > Impossible Virtue [2]: Gain Stability x2, SPD+1 x2, and POS+2 x2

7-8

Stride > Eradicate Fear [2]: The Raja and all allies gain Block 4 > Inflict Violence

9

Break Infinity [4]: The Raja and all allies gain +1 Beat on their next Fulmination.

10

Will The World Know Your Name? [4]: The Raja marks out a burst 5, which does not move even if they do. At the start of the next Strike, the Raja leaps and then reveals their Indra-Realization, becoming more than a King, summoning a vajra and sending it into the earth in an indigo thunderbolt, inflicting 40 True Hits on all enemies in the burst. Those that survive this gain his respect. This effect cannot be repeated more than once per Strike.

102

VIOLENCE

103

VIOLENCE Apumbukid A confederation or league of nations of shared culture, working together to protect Hiyang. They have become masters of violence in their path to preserve harmony and the World. Apumbukid Origin Template Each Apumbukid fighter has the following mechanic: Warriors of the World! Place up to 5 pieces of tall grass terrain in the battlefield (which cannot be adjacent to each other). Apumbukid fighters have +1 to all Martial Abilities except for HP and SPD when they start their turn within or adjacent tall grass terrain, and they are immune to all terrain. If they move into or start their Fulmination within tall grass terrain, they may teleport to any other free tall grass terrain in the battlefield. Every start of Strike after the first, a new piece of tall grass terrain sprouts up in the battlefield, which cannot be adjacent to any existing tall grass terrain. Apumbukid Origin Fighters Sage

Demonbreaker

Those that have reached the tip of Hiyang, transcendent harmony. Like bodhisattvas, they have purposely held off on achieving pure Hiyang so that they can help others achieve it as well.

Masters of the Ancient Art of Wrestling, known by many names. Demonbreakers wrestle giants and gods and bring them down to earth.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

FTH

4/5/6

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Metempsychosis When the Sage is brought to 0HP, they immediately teleport 3, heal 3, and then they become a different Apumbukid Origin Fighter. They may Fulminate again.

Inflict Violence: Teach Utter a silent teaching: Ranged Air Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 3, inflict POS1/RES-1

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

4/5/6

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Elemental Hands The Demonbreaker may choose any piece of tall grass, burning, water, frozen, or scorched terrain as the origin point for effects.

2-3 4-5 6

Lunge forward and grab: Rush 1 and then inflict Stop on an adjacent fighter. Then inflict 1 Hit on every fighter in the field with Stop.

GAMBITS (d12)

GAMBITS (d6) 1

Inflict Violence: Break

Feel [3]: Choose 1 fighter in range 4. Heal them 1 or inflict 1 Hit. Stride > Inflict Violence > Think [1]: The sage and all allies in burst 2 Deflect. Stride > Inflict Violence > Inflict Harmony [1]: The Sage and any fighter in the battlefield may swap squares, teleporting. Kill [3]: The Sage asks all enemies in the battlefield to roll a d6. On a 5+, they are safe. Otherwise, they suffer 5 True Hits. Any fighters brought to 0HP from this heals 1 the Sage and all allies.

104

1-3

Stride > Inflict Violence > Deflect

4-6

Stride > Greater Grapple [2]: Inflict Stop x2 on every enemy in burst 3. Stride > Momentum [1]: Rush 3. If moving into tall grass terrain, rush 6 after teleporting, moving through enemies. Enemies moved through suffer Stop > Inflict Violence Stride > Inflict Violence > Tear Apart [1]: Slide 1 any fighter in the field with Stop.

7-9

10-12

VIOLENCE Pureblade

Pureshield

Ascetic sword-priests who fulfill the holy duty of Hiyang through the perfection of the cutting motion of the sword. They are siblings to the Bladeweavers, who perfect the sword itself. The creator of the Pureblade Art was a student of Bladeweaving.

The Pureshields are shieldbearers that have taken the oath to protect and defend others, at the expense of themselves. They have made a pact with their Guardian Spirits who give them the hardwood shields they use to fight. Pureshields fight to protect nature.

MARTIAL ABILITIES

MARTIAL ABILITIES

HP

5/6/7

POS

3/4/5

HP

8/10/12

POS

5/7/9

BRV

5/7/9

RES

3/4/4

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

FTH

3/5/6

SPD

4/6/8

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

Trait: Cleansing Blade All attacks against fighters with Banes gain +1 Hit.

Inflict Violence: Cut Embody the Principle of Cutting: Melee Fire Bravery Attack vs 1 target in path 3

Trait: Fortress

Inflict Violence: Bash

The Pureshield gains Defends on 5+ against all melee attacks.

GAMBITS (d8)

Bash with a gleaming shield: Melee Earth Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target, Push 1 per 6+.

GAMBITS (d10)

1-2

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

1-3

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

3-4

Stride > Purify Blade [1]: If there is tall grass, burning, water, or frozen terrain adjacent, channel the terrain to +1d on next attack > Deflection [1]: Gain Deflection Stance. After canceling any Hits with Defends, Rush 2 after the attack. Pureblade Emanation [2]: Inflict 1 Hit on every enemy within burst 1 of every tall grass terrain > Inflict Violence White Wind Slicing [3]: Take on the White Wind Stance. At any point before start of next Fulmination, may consume the White Wind Stance to teleport 1 and then make a Melee Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in Path 10

4-6

Stride > Stampede [2]: Rush 6 in a straight line, through enemies. Inflict 1 Hit to every enemy moved through. Rush 3, ignoring terrain > Inflict Violence > Plant Shield [1]: Place a shield (Size 1 Object, Blocking Terrain, Cover) in an adjacent square. Any fighter that collides with the shield suffers Push 1 away from the shield. Stride > Shield Whirlwind! [2]: Area Air Bravery+Faith Attack vs all enemies in burst 2, can plant a Shield in an unoccupied square in the burst.

5-6 7-8

7-9

10

Windcaller A particular balyan who dedicates to channeling the elemental wrath of the various elemental spirits from Hanginbanwa. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 4/5/6 POS 2/3/4 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 3/3/4 Trait: Whirlwind Aura Inflict Violence: Flurry Any fighter that ends their Fulmination adjacent the Windcaller may Slide 1.

1 2-3 4-5

6

Unleash a powerful gust: Ranged Air Faith Attack vs All targets in blast 3 within 3 squares

GAMBITS (d6) Wind Infusion [1]: Next Wind Attack gains +1d. > Fly 4 > Inflict Violence Fly 4 > Storm [2]: Make an area air faith attack vs all enemies in burst 2, Slide 1 per 6+ on the Attack Teeth. Stride > Geyser [1]: Inflict Juggle on a fighter in range 6 > Lightning Arc [1]: Make a ranged air faith attack vs 1 target in range 5, make the same attack against any target in range 2. Wind Rider [3]: Area Air Faith Attack vs all targets in burst 2, then gain the Wind Rider Stance until end of next Fulmination. While in this stance, Windcaller is Flying and has +1d to all Wind Attacks.

105

VIOLENCE

Vengeful Guardian

A Kadungganan infused with the vengeful properties of nature, to better protect the sanctity of all of nature. Kadungganan become Vengeful Guardians only by choosing, and by undergoing a vision quest and ritual alongside a powerful balyan. Once becoming a Vengeful Guardian, their Conviction becomes strictly to protect a particular place of spiritual power, and they cannot leave it. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

5 x Kadungganan

POS

4/5/6

BRV

4/5/6

RES

4/5/6

FTH

4/5/6

SPD

5/6/7

Traits

Inflict Violence: Wrathful Palm

Wrathful God: While Staggered, gain +1d to all attacks.

Strike with a wrathful palm: Melee Fire Faith Attack vs 1 adjacent target, then Push 3. If they collide, teleport to a square Vengeance: The Vengeful Guardian deals Overwhelming against adjacent and make the same attack. Can only teleport twice. any fighter with Banes. Immortality: The Vengeful Guardian has Regen unless they are Poise Broken. GAMBITS (d6) Phase 1: Humanoid Form. Looks similar to any other Kadungganan. 1

Stride > Teleport 1 > Wrathful Meditation [2]: Gain +2d on the next melee attack.

2-3 4-5

Stride > Teleport 1 > Inflict Violence > Stoke Flames [1]: Inflict Provoke 2 on the closest enemy. Stride > Vengeant Rumination [2]: Gain BRV+2 as well as all allies in burst 3 > Altar [1]: Rush 1, leave a Size 1 Statue of self in the square vacated. All enemies that start their Fulmination within burst 1 of the Altar suffers Fray. 6 Vengeance Stance [4]: Gain the Vengeance Stance until the end of the current Strike. Whenever suffering an attack in this Stance, inflict 1 Hit on the attacker per 7+ on the Defense Teeth. Phase 2: Wrathful Form. Parrot heads explode, seventy arms arise. Triggered when Staggered. 1 Stride > Teleport 1 > Wrathful Meditation [2]: Gain +2d on the next melee attack.

2 3 4 5 6

Stride > Teleport 1 > Inflict Violence > Stoke Flames [1]: Inflict Provoke 2 on the closest enemy. Stride > Vengeant Rumination [2]: Gain BRV+/FTH+2 as well as all allies in burst 3 > Altar [1]: Rush 1, leave a Size 1 Statue of self in the square vacated. All enemies that start their Fulmination within burst 1 of the Altar suffers Fray. Vengeance Stance [4]: Gain the Vengeance Stance until the end of the current Strike. Whenever suffering an attack in this Stance, inflict 1 Hit on the attacker per 7+ on the Defense Teeth. Teleport 5 > Greater Vajrapani Palm [3]: Make an Area Air Bravery+Faith Attack vs all targets in blast 10. Fulfill Duty [4]: At the end of the Strike, violence ends, and all enemies are teleported far away from the guarded place. Trigger immediately at Strike 6.

106

VIOLENCE

107

VIOLENCE Akai Warriors that will conquer the world either by trade or by war, all to protect their Faith to Goddess. Akai Origin Template Each Akai fighter has the following mechanic: Divine Striving. Whenever a fighter falls to 0 HP, all Akai fighters get the Striving Boon. While Striving, they gain +1 to all Martial Abilities, and all their attacks gain Skewering. When they lose Striving, they heal 2. Akai Origin Fighters War Drummer

Trickster

War drummers slam their rubber wrapped sticks against great deerskin drums and clang them against giant golden gongs. These drums are the songs of legends, the thundering of heroes, and it bolsters the Akainon upon the field.

Children of Pilandok, the mouse-deer trickter god that stole the world from God.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

HP

4/5/6

POS

3/4/5

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

FTH

4/5/6

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Resound

Trait: Mock and Cackle

Inflict Violence: Beat

When the War Drummer gains Striving, they give +2d to the next attack themselves and all allies.

Strike gong: Push 3 a fighter in range 2. Any one ally may inflict violence against the fighter if they can at any point of the movement.

GAMBITS (d6) 1 2-3 4-5

6

MARTIAL ABILITIES

Epic In Progress [3]: Give all allies in the battlefield Block 2. Stride > Inflict Violence > Deflect Stride > Striking Gong Method [2]: Make an Area Air Bravery+Faith Attack vs all targets in blast 3, all allies in the blast may Rush 1 and gains BRV+1/FTH+1 Thunderous [3]: Strike an echoing note, leaving behind a field in burst 1 of the Drummer. All allies that start their turn in the field gain SPD+1 and BRV+1/FTH+1.

108

When the trickster gains Striving, it and all allies in the field may teleport 1.

Inflict Violence: Nick Steal a bit of soul: Ranged Air Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 3, heal 1

GAMBITS (d12) 1-3

Stride > Teleport 1 > Inflict Violence

4-6

Stride > Steal Agimat [2]: 1 adjacent fighter rolls a d6. On a 6, the trickster steals 1 AntingAnting. They only gain the Anting-Anting back if the Trickster is Defeated. If there are no Anting-Anting, steal 1 Technique instead. Stride > Return Gift [2]: Roll a d8. 1 fighter in range 3 gains that many stacks of Sunder. Stride > Steal Enlightenment [2]: 1 adjacent fighter must roll a d8. On an 8, the trickster steals one Enlightenment, even if they’ve already used it, and can use it themselves.

7-9 10-12

VIOLENCE Knave

Knight

Rogues, rapscallions, swindlers. With push dagger and fishing rod they fuck with those in power, those with wealth, and help those toiling in the farms and fields. They are quick, and have mastered the secret art of eclipses.

Trained cavaliers clad in steel armor, plumed with beautiful rainbow feathers, and engraved with geometric incantations.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

5/7/9

RES

3/4/4

FTH

3/5/6

SPD

4/6/8

Trait: Hide and Seek When the Knave gains Striving, they teleport 2 spaces and become a Phantasm until start of next Fulmination. While a Phantasm, they are immune to all attacks, damage, and effects, and can move through units, but they cannot deal damage or inflict effects.

Strike with a shadow: Melee Earth Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target, gain Stealth x2

1-2

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

3-4

Shadeswap [1]: Swap places with another Akai fighter in the battlefield > Shadowstrike: Melee Earth Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target, Skewering if from Stealth Stride > Prelude To Violence [2]: Teleport adjacent to a fighter in range 4, inflict 1 Hit and Eviscerate x2 on the target. Smoke Bomb [2]: Make all squares in burst 2 into hazy terrain > Hazestep [1]: Teleport to any square in hazy terrain, then gain Stealthx2

7-8

HP

7/8/9

BRV FTH

POS

5/7/9

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

Trait: Ironclad

Inflict Violence: Knifesmoke

GAMBITS (d8)

5-6

MARTIAL ABILITIES

Inflict Violence: Crescent Slash

When the Knight gains Striving, they mark all enemies in burst 3, they gain 1 Defend. While Striving, the Knight has Stability.

Slice: make a Melee Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in path 4, inflict +1 Hit if the target is marked.

GAMBITS (d10) 1-3

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

4-6

Stride > Mark 1 fighter in range 3 until end of next Fulmination > Inflict Violence Quake Stomp [1]: Inflict Unbalance on all fighters in blast 3 > Rush 3, ignoring terrain > Inflict Violence Stride > Victory Cry [2]: Inflict 1 Hit on all enemies in burst 3, mark them, and then pull 3.

7-9 10

Court Sorcerer Sorcerers that are loyal to a single lord, clad in shells, gold, pearls, glass beads, and intricate silks of crimson, azure, and viridian. Their power is such that they can overcome the occult strength of even a datu. They send gouts of flame and change the flow of rivers with power gained from unknowable dark powers. Dark powers that they harness and master. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 5/6/7 POS 2/3/4 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 3/3/4 Trait: Pandita Inflict Violence: Wither Inflict 1 Hit on all enemies in burst 3, and then heal 1 all allies in the burst.

1 2-3

4-5 6

109

Unleash a powerful gust: Ranged Water Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 5, inflict Eviscerate

GAMBITS (d6) Mata-Mata [2]: Teleport 5, and then inflict Daze on all enemies adjacent afterwards > Deflect Stride > Weight of Goddess [2]: Make an area air faith attack vs all enemies in burst 2, inflict knock down: they cannot move voluntarily or make attacks until they spend a Beat to stand. Stride > Goddess Tears [2]: Make an area water Faith attack vs all targets in path 7, inflicting Slow on every target. Moondance [3]: The Sorcerer may rush 6, through enemies, marking every enemy moved through. After the movement, consume all marks to inflict 1 True Hit on the marked target.

VIOLENCE

Offering

A warrior that has on the vestments and raiments of death and violence. These warriors offer their lives for Goddess, knowing they will enjoy Bliss in Lunar Heaven as their reward for dying in violence. They are almost impossible to kill, and many have had to create new weapons to simply deal with them. Their tenacity is unmatched. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

5 x Kadungganan

POS

3/4/5

BRV

5/7/9

RES

3/4/4

5/7/9

SPD

FTH Traits

3/5/7 Inflict Violence: Run Amok

Juggernaut: The warrior can move through enemies, pushing them 1.

Rage. Melee Earth Bravery Attack vs 2 adjacent targets.

Overwhelming Fury: At Strike 3+, all of the Warrior’s Melee Attacks deal Overwhelming. Blessed By Goddess: Has Metal Conditioning and, when they rush, they Fly for the duration of the movement. GAMBITS (d8) Phase 1: Offering. Wrapped in burial garments. They have already died before the fight has begun. 1-2

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence > Gatling [1]: Inflict Violence without CB.

3-4

Stride > Waste The Land [2]: Area Earth Bravery Attack vs all targets in burst 3, inflict Stun, but suffer Stun x2 > Deflect 5-6 Stride > Grab [1]: Inflict Stop on an adjacent fighter > Backbreaker [1]: Inflict 1 Hit on all fighters with Stop, remove Stop > Mighty Thew [1]: Push 5 a single fighter, inflict Stun if they collide. 7-8 Stride > Overpower [3]: Add +Bravery to next attack. Phase 2: Walking Corpse. Ripped off garments, only sarong or pants now. Scars all about. Cuts don’t seem to bleed. Gain Regen for the rest of violence. 1-2 Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence > Gatling [1]: Inflict Violence without CB. 3-4 5 6 7 8

Stride > Waste The Land [2]: Area Earth Bravery Attack vs all targets in burst 3, inflict Stun, but suffer Stun x2 > Deflect Stride > Grab [1]: Inflict Stop on an adjacent fighter > Backbreaker [1]: Inflict 1 Hit on all fighters with Stop, remove Stop > Mighty Thew [1]: Push 5 a single fighter, inflict Stun if they collide. Raise Earth [1]: Raise the elevation by 1 of all squares in burst 1 within range 4. > Break Earth [1]: Lower the elevation of all squares in burst 2 by 1 > Stride > Heaven On Earth [1]: Inflict 1 True Hit on all enemies that are not on the same elevation as the Warrior. Stride > Overpower [3]: Add +Bravery to next attack. Achieve Lunar Heaven [4]: Rush 10 towards the center of the battlefield. At the end of the current Strike, destroy the battlefield, making it a flat square no terrain or elevation changes. The second time this is used, instead bring all enemies in the field to 0 HP, then suffer Eviscerate for the rest of the fight. Use this automatically at Strike 4.

110

VIOLENCE

111

VIOLENCE Virbanwan Warriors that will enact the Ashen Conquest. Virbanwa prioritizes unity under a single flag, and assimilation, so that they can live fruitfully. The Ashen Star Faith is not the same as the Bleeding Star religion. The Ashen Star worships Makagagahum, not the Bleeding Star that the Pale Kings come from. But they are common conflated to be the same. Makagagahum will be eaten by the Pale Kings if the Virbanwans do not fix their mistakes. God must not be consumed. Virbanwans must fight to protect their God and Community, not to assimilate others within. The Pale Kings bleed, the Virbanwans worship a better star. Virbanwan Origin Template Each Virbanwan fighter has the following mechanic: Ashen Conquest. All Virbanwans adjacent to each other are considered In Line. While In Line, they have 1 Defend. When Virbanwa start their Fulmination while In Line, they and all Virbanwans they are In Line with may rush 1, never breaking adjacency. A Virbanwan is only In Line with other Virbanwans they’re adjacent to. Virbanwans that are adjacent to each other but are separate from another group of adjacent Virbanwans are not considered In Line with the other group of adjacent Virbanwans. Virbanwan Origin Fighters

Heneral

Magister

A mustachioed, uniform wearing general who wields a saber. Intensely patriotic.

Sampalatayan mystics who have infused their ancient priest-healer practices with Ashen Star mysticism and eschatology. Using orasyones, they lock the battlefield down, and channel the Pure Flame by their God.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

4/5/6

RES

4/5/6

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/5

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

Trait: Commander

Inflict Violence: Fuego

All allies in burst 2 of the Heneral are considered In Line. All allies In Line with the Heneral cannot fall below 1 HP.

Command the strike! Ranged Fire Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 3, 1 fighter In Line in the battlefield may inflict violence.

GAMBITS (d6) 1 2-3 4-5

6

March [3]: The Heneral rushes 3, all allies In Line with the Heneral rush 3 as well, keeping adjacency. Stride > Inflict Violence > Inspire [1]: One ally in range 3 gets +1d on their next attack. Stride > Commandeer [2]: Two allies In Line may inflict violence. If less than two fighters inlifct violence, inflict 1 Hit on all enemies in blast 3. Recruit [3]: Summon 1 Conscript in an adjacent square.

112

4/5/6

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Unmask

Inflict Violence: Singe

While In Line, they may remove their habits to reveal spiked leather garments underneath, and turn holy light into a flaming whip: when they end their Fulmination, they may Slide 3 a single fighter in burst 3.

Burn a fighter’s soul with holy light: inflict Burn on a fighter in range 5. Burn inflicts 1 True Hit at the start and end of Fulmination

GAMBITS (d12) 1-3

Stride > Teleport 1 > Inflict Violence

4-6

Stride > Fire Whip [2]: Inflict 1 True Hit on a fighter in range 3, inflict Burn, Slide 3 Stride > Heavenly Push [2]: Choose any number of targets in blast 3: inflict Push 5 Stride > Fire Binding [2]: Ranged Fire Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 4, inflict Stop and Burn

7-9 10-12

VIOLENCE Conscript

Royal Guard

Poor farmer folk pulled into the ranks of the fight.

A heavily clad warrior in the stylings of Issohappa, wearing a breastplates, greaves, tassets, and intricate helmets made to look like the giant king eagles that Virbanwa is so proud of, but have contributed to the destruction of their habitats.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

1 (Minion)

POS

2/3/4

BRV

3/4/5

RES

2/3/4

FTH

2/3/4

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Mob

MARTIAL ABILITIES

Inflict Violence: Commanded Strike

While In Line with a Heneral, Melee Earth Bravery Attack they have +2d on all attacks. vs 1 adjacent target GAMBITS (d8) 1-4 Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence 5-8 Stride > Inflict Violence > Deflect

5/7/9

BRV FTH

4/5/6

RES

4/5/6

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

Inflict Violence: Greatsword Strike with a giant Issohappan sword: make a Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs all targets in line 2

GAMBITS (d10) 1-3

4-6 7-9

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 5/6/7 POS 3/4/5 BRV 5/7/9 RES 3/4/5 FTH 5/7/9 SPD 3/3/4 Trait: Potent Cannon Inflict Violence: Fire

10

While In Line, all area attacks Fire cannon: Area Fire Faith inflict Stun. Attack vs all targets in line 4

6

POS

When an ally that is In Line with the Royal Guard suffers an attack, the Royal Guard may change the target to themselves.

A Virbanwan unit clad in a steel breastplate and lugging around a dragon-mouthed lantaka. Fires giant cannon balls to disrupt entire armies.

2-3 4-5

7/9/11

Trait: Knight’s Initiative

Cannoneer

1

HP

GAMBITS (d6) Overload Cannon [3]: Next Inflict Violence has Overwhelming. Stride > Leap > Inflict Violence Stride > Arcing Bomb [2]: Area Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in burst 1 within 4 squares. All squares in the burst fall down -1 Elevation. Stride > VM Cannon [2]: Make an Area Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in Blast 5, inflicting Push 1.

113

Stride > Defender Aura [2]: Gain the Defender Stance until the end of next Fulmination. While in this stance, have 1 Defend > all allies adjacent to you have cover. Stride > Inflict Violence > Deflect Stride > Inflict Violence > Counter [1]: Gain a Counter Token. When attacked, consume the Counter Token to inflict violence back at the attacker. Stride > Sunsplitter [2]: Area Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in Line 6, inflict Provoke 1 [+1 per 8+ on the line.]

VIOLENCE

Ashen Vicar

The vicars of the Ashen Star are master martial artists as they have been taught by the angels of war, which are the subsidiary spirits that worship and follow Makagagahum. Vicars must know how to protect their flock, after all. Virbanwan villages are very commonly made around a single chapel, where the vicar lives. The vicar has the double duty as the spiritual leader and chiefly leader of Virbanwan villages. Many vicars are powerful entities that can defeat demons: things they have been taught. Ashen vicars are masters of ancient Issohappan styles of martial arts that focuses on expunging demons and gods. While they have good intentions, and truly might not even want to use their martial prowess, they are commonly pushed to fend of raiders and violence demons. Vicars are of course, filled with steel conviction, and are the closest thing to bodhisattvas. Commonly vicars are saints that have become reincarnated. Once they remember their past life, they find a Gnostic Nibbana and can peer past the pall of reality. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

4 x Kadungganan

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

3/4/5

Traits

Inflict Violence: Bladed Hand

Smite! When a Kadungganan begins their Fulmination, they have 1 minute to do their Fulmination. If they go beyond 1 minute, Smite them: they suffer 3 True Hits.

Turn your hand into a burning crossguarded sword: Melee Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in Path 5. The last target in the field suffers Eviscerate.

Friar Teachings: Permanently Floating. Gnostic Rumination: 1/Violence, when a Kadungganan picks up Attack Teeth, the vicar can choose to pick up the required Teeth first. If the vicar collects the required number of Attack Teeth first, the Kadungganan’s attack is canceled and the vicar gets the Attack Teeth, they can spend any number of Attack Teeth on any attack. GAMBITS (d12) Phase 1: Meek. Wreathed in the cloth and the frock. Fight with fists and swords and reprimands. 1-3

Stride > Teleport 1 > Inflict Violence > Teleport 1

4-6 7-9

Stride > Act of God [2]: Slide 3 all fighters in burst 3. > Heal 1 [1] Stride > Demented Salvation [3]: Inflict Daze to all fighters in the battlefield.

10-12

Teleport 3 > Charism [2]: Choose a square in range 5. Pull 2 every chosen target in burst 2 of the square and then inflict Unbalance > Inflict Violence Phase 2: Exalted. Rip cloth apart, reveal the diamond body, give yourself for the Almighty.

1-3 4-6 7-9 10 11 12

Stride > Teleport 3 > Inflict Violence > Tap The Rock [1]: Turn 1 square in the battlefield into water terrain. Stride > Act of God [2]: Slide 3 all fighters in burst 3. > Condemnation [1]: Inflict Condemnation on all enemies in the battlefield. Enemies with Condemnation cannot be healed or gain positive effects. Stride > Demented Salvation [3]: Inflict Stun and All Vulnerability to all fighters in the battlefield. Teleport 3 > Charism [2]: Choose a square in range 5. Pull 2 every chosen target in burst 2 of the square and then inflict Unbalance > Inflict Violence Stride > Holy Shepherd [2]: Teleport 2 all enemies in the battlefield > Show of Majesty [1]: Gain Flying [Boon]. Drink The Wrath of the Almighty [4]: All enemies in the field suffer Wrath. Wrath: suffer -2 Beats every Fulmination (this supercedes Stun) and you lose all benefits from Discipline Traits. You cannot be saved, you have been condemned. Trigger this automatically at the end of Strike 5. When a fighter removes Wrath, they suffer 2 True Hits.

114

VIOLENCE

115

VIOLENCE Ba-e The kingdom that has grown and subsumed many those that have left the Baikhan Hegemony as well as from the Hundred Empires in Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows and Auraska and Mahajola. Ba-e has the greatest access to foreign trade and thus has evolved the most, but they are buckling under the strength of their foreign influence. Their own QueenChakravarti, their Sangpamegat Dayang Kalangitan, is the Wheel-Turning Lady and is meant to spread her merit across the world, as a true universal ruler. Ba-enon warriors are royal and aristocratic, hailing from the oldest mandala in the Sword Isles, pierced through by multiple cultures and faiths from across Gubat Banwa. They will buckle under their own righteousness, as the swords of merit will destroy them from within. They are also wielders of ancient Kadanay technology, which mixes stonewaking with jadecraft. Ba-enon Origin Template Each Ba-e fighter has the following mechanic: Turn The Wheel. At the beginning of Violence, every Ba-enon gains 1 Merit. Every beginning of Strike, each Ba-enon gains 1 Merit. They can spend 1 Merit to immediately reroll any Cast. Ba-e Origin Fighters

Jyotisha

Angel Slaver

Oracles and diviners who watch the sky, the movement of the stars, the position of the Great Sky Serpents, and the lay of the waters to predict fortunes in the past and the future.

A witch trained to enslave angels and recycle their stardust hearts into new angels.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

4/5/6

RES

4/5/6

FTH

4/5/6

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Karmic Fate When an enemy in burst 3 performs a hostile action, all allies in the burst heals 1, and the enemy suffers Dark Karma. Light Karma: Suffer -1 Hit. Dark Karma: Suffer +1 Hit.

Inflict Violence: Inflict Evil Karma Impose evil consequences upon another with a mudra and a mantra upon the dharmapalas: Ranged Metal Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 3, they suffer -1d on their next Defense Teeth.

GAMBITS (d6) 1 2-3 4-5 6

Moon [3]: Inflict 1 Light Karma on all allies and 1 Dark Karma on ell enemies in burst 3 Stride > Inflict Violence > Rahu [1]: Inflict 1 Light Karma on an ally in range 3. Stride > Inflict Violence > Kedu [1]: Inflict 1 Dark Karma on an ally in range 3. Svarbhanu Nature [3]: All allies that have Light Karma heal 1 per Light Karma. All enemies with Dark Karma suffer 1 per Dark Karma. All Karma is removed afterwards.

116

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

4/5/6

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Enslave Tyrants

Inflict Violence: Lash

At the start of Violence, place 2 Angel-Slaves [Raider Minions] of appropriate tier in range 3. The Slaver cannot fall below 1 HP as long as there are Angel-Slaves in the battlefield.

With prayer beads, summon a whip of essence: make a Ranged Fire Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 4, Slide 3. Can be used to slide allies safely.

Spend 1 Merit during your Fulmination to summon 1 Angel-Slave adjacent to the Slaver. GAMBITS (d12) 1-3

Stride > Teleport 1 > Inflict Violence

4-6

Stride > Prod [2]: All angel-slaves can Rush 4 and then Inflict Violence. Stride > Dharma [1]: Swap places with an angel-slave, teleporting > Rend [1]: Inflict Bleed to all enemies adajcent to the slaver and all angel-slaves. Buddha Subdues God [3]: Kill all angel-slaves to inflict 1 True Hit to all enemies in the battlefield.

7-9

10-12

VIOLENCE Sundermonk

Godwalker

Axe ascetics trained by farmers who wield the veritable sword-axe the Panabas, usually with elongated handles so that it resembles more a sword-axe with a spear shaft, the variation called Dakpanabas. Sundermonks value the soul of the weapon, and believe the Dakpanabas is the perfect combination of the sword, axe, and spear, and seek to win in as much violence as possible to prove it.

Giant sage statues that pocked the grasslands of Ba-e gave Kadanay artifactsmiths ideas. They had too much fun. Now they ride these sage statue-shaped gold-and-jade armors, with four arms, a weaker form of the God Body. MARTIAL ABILITIES

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

5/6/7

POS

3/3/4

BRV

6/8/10

RES

3/3/4

FTH

6/8/10

SPD

4/5/6

Trait: Weaponsoul

Inflict Violence: Dervish

When you make an attack, spend 1 Merit to gain +2d.

Twirl the panabas: Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs all targets in burst 1.

GAMBITS (d8) 1-2 Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence 3-4 Leap/Stride > Decapitate [2]: Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target. If the target is Staggered, this attack deals True Hits 5-6 Rush 3 > Gut [1]: Inflict 1 True Hit to the last target in path 3. > Deflect 7-8 Inflict Sunyata [3]: Strike with the axe in a cleaving arc, summoning emptiness, make a Melee Metal Bravery + Faith Attack vs all targets in blast 3.

4-5 6

5/7/9

BRV FTH

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

Sagewalkers wear golden armor powered by souls of overjoyous ancestor spirits, with four arms. As long as they have Merit, they are Metal Immune. They can spend 1 Merit when a fighter leaves an adjacent square to inflict 1 True Hit to them.

Strike with four palms: make a Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target, then push 2

GAMBITS (d10) 1-3

Stride > Inflict Violence > Deflect

4-6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Pure Body [1]: Cleanse self of 1 effect. Stride > Thunderclap [2]: Area Air Bravery Attack vs all enemies in Blast 3, inflict Unbalance Stride > Textile Shattering [2]: Make four Area Earth Bravery Attacks vs all targets in close line 6, each attack must be made in each of the four cardinal directions.

7-9 10

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 4/5/6 POS 2/3/4 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 3/3/4 Trait: Ruminate Sunyata Inflict Violence: Jade Astra

2-3

POS

Inflict Violence: Four-Palm Strike

A master barilero who works with Kadanay jade and clay to destroy the victim of their scorn, imbuing their weapons with the essence of gods.

1

8/10/12

Trait: Holy Body

Astra

Spend 1 Merit to increase the range of any ranged attack with range to the entire battlefield.

HP

Fire a beam of godannihilating light: Area Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in Line 6

GAMBITS (d6) Teleport 3 > Aim [1]: Next attack gain Sharpness > Inflict Violence Stride > Aim [1]: Next attack gain Sharpness > Inflict Violence Stride > Fire Astra [2]: Inflict 1 True Hit to any fighter in the battlefield that is not close to cover or blocking terrain. Summon Lightning [3]: Shoot the sky. Inflict Violence from any square in the battlefield.

117

VIOLENCE

Dharmapala

A guardian deity that protects the Dharma. Worshipped and channeled when having to fend off injustices and horrors. They are commonly other demons or asrs that have been tamed by monks and buddhas. The first Dharmapala is the monk Sri Kera Jadara, the First Militant Shaman-Monk who traveled the Sword Isles to bind a thousand thousand demons to servitude to the buddha. This is the greatest treasure: eight of them were Demon-Kings, the most powerful of Dharmapala. After his death, the monk rejected Parinirvana and chose to become the vajra, bell, sword, and trident that many dharmapala are allowed to wield. MARTIAL ABILITIES 6 x Kadungganan POS

HP

5/6/7

BRV

5/6/7

RES

5/6/7

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

4/4/4

Traits

Inflict Violence: Burning Palm

Budding Karma: Whenever the Dharmapala is the target of an attack, the attacker gains 1 Karma.

Strike with a burning palm! Cleanse all impurity! Melee Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in blast 2, teleport them 1.

Padma: Attacks against any fighters with Karma are Skewering. The Wheel: The Dharmapala can move through enemies. If they do, they push 1 the enemy out of the way and then inflict 1 Hit, once per enemy. GAMBITS (d10) Phase 1: Budding Dharmapala. Small and unbroken, humanoid form. 1-3

Stride > Inflict Violence > Infuse Dharma [2]: Gain BRV+2.

4-6

Teleport 3 > Consequences [2]: Inflict 1 Karma on all enemies in the battlefield. > Inflict Violence 7-9 Stride > Inflict Violence > King’s Road [2]: Push 3, if they collide, teleport to a square adjacent to the target and then inflict violence. 10 Samsara [4]: Inflict 1 True Hit on all enemies with Karma, then consume all Karmas. Heal 1 per consumed Karma. Phase 2: Diamond Is Unbreakable. Blossom, like a lotus, into a great dharmapala. The dharmapala becomes Size 2. 1-3 4 5-6 7

8 9 10

Stride > Inflict Violence > Infuse Dharma [2]: Gain BRV+2. Teleport 3 > Consequences [2]: Inflict 1 Karma on all enemies in the battlefield. > Inflict Violence Stride > Inflict Violence > King’s Road [2]: Push 3, if they collide, teleport to a square adjacent to the target and then inflict violence. Greater Consequences [4]: Inflict 2 Karma on all enemies in the battlefield, then teleport 2. Stride > Wrathful Stomp [1]: Inflict Juggle on all enemies in blast 4 > Inflict Violence > Teleport 1, leave a Statue of the Dharmapala behind [Size 1]. All enemies that inflict with the Dharmapala is teleported to a square adjacent to the Dharmapala. Samsara [4]: Inflict 2 True Hits on all enemies with Karma, then consume all Karmas. Heal 1 per consumed Karma. Closer To Buddha [4]: Meditate. The Dharmapala cannot perform anything else but Meditation. They Heal 1 every start of Fulmination. At the end of Strike 7, they unravel into a blossoming lotus, and then teleport to heaven, and send a burning palm down, immediately fulfilling any Defeat Condition and ending Violence.

118

VIOLENCE

119

VIOLENCE absorbing them into the Mandate of Heaven.

Baikhan The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. The Baik Hu Hegemony is a powerful and vast empire that trades consistently with the Sword Isles and the rest of the Archipelagic Crescent. They ride as black steel cataphracts, ruled with an iron fist by their immortal August Jade Emperor, with immortal warlords and royalty being dragonfolk. Much of The Sword Isles wealth comes from trade with this Hegemony in truth. Many of modern material culture in The Sword Isles are the porcelains and ceramics and silks that come from Baik Hu itself. Baik Hu’s current August Jade Emperor is the Child Empress Zhu Que Liu, the Vermillion Phoenix, may she reign forever. She has her own personal mercenary company of elite warriors, known as the Long Jian, the Dragon Sabers. Some of these come from The Sword Isles. Baik Hu itself is divided into several social classes. Below the Emperor were the Gentry, land-owning families with close ties to education. Below them are the Peasants, poor workers that could only survive on their crops. Below Peasants were Merchants, which while able to gain a high income, were regarded as low because they were believed to take advantage of the labor of others by trading items for a profit. The Debtors had little to no right, and were considered property of their own. All these Classes, except the Debtor, could move up in the social rungs by passing the service exam. Only Lungyi, otherwise known as Dragonfolk, can become royalty and emperors. Lungyi are believed to be the highest rung of spiritual Teaching, in Baikhan Annuvaran teachings. These Dragonfolk take on the shape of humanoid dragons, with their bodies slithering and serpentine and long, with floating whiskers and hair that moves as if underwater, even in stagnant air. It is believed that these Dragonfolk are direct descendants of the Dragon Kings of Baik Hu’s mythical foundational state, Ku Chun. They believe that Dragonfolk are born as “true inheritors” of the Empire. All other races are simply meant to be debtors to the Lungyi. In Baikhan Annuvaran thought, it is believed that by practicing right action, your successive reincarnations will become more and more like Dragonborn. The Dragonborn are believed to be at the top of Enlightenment, on the cusp of Liberation. Those born to Lungyi parents are Lungyi themselves, purportedly blessed with a state of enlightenment at birth. Those mortals that have only one parent as Lungyi become Bantai, halfborn. They have a much easier chance of becoming Lungyi in their next life, and are known to possess powers and abilities only Lungyi would have. Bantai typically have a non-Lungyi form but might have Lungyi traits: floating white hair, crimson eyes, or sprouting antlers. While strange in The Sword Isles, and demonic in the eyes of the Issohappan, these are holy symbols for Baikhan. It is not a secret that Baik Hu treats itself as the center of the universe, and truly some might think they are right. This, of course, is not exactly true. However, due to this, Baik Hu has begun expanding, reaching up north to The Sword Isles and the other empires within, in an attempt to conquer them and add them into the Hegemony,

120

In this ambition, Baik Hu has one of the largest and most robust armies in all of Gubat Banwa. The war machine of Baik Hu, known as the Sword of Creation, has staked claims in almost every major region in Gubat Banwa, and has in recent times been more aggressive in terms of establishing trading colonies. Recently, Baik Hu has become more open to trading and accepting vassal states. Numerous trading polities in The Sword Isles have already been accepted by the Empress as vassal states, and have been given the title of Hwang. This includes Raja Batara Ambasi and Sangpamegat Dayang Kalangitan. Many believe, especially scholars within Baik Hu, that this is in a bid to solidify trading routes for easier colonization. Baik Hu as well has been strengthening its naval armadas (though still nothing compared to the naval might of Sword Isle kingdoms) to contest Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows and The Sword Isles in their own waters, leading to more and more clashes and engagements. Baikhan Origin Template Each Baikhan fighter has the following mechanic and are considered Folk: Dragon Heir. Baikhan are indomitable, proud, fearless, and perfectly intertwined. For 1 Beat, a Baikhan may Ignite (Boon) all Baikhan adjacent to them, letting them Rush 1. Ignited Baikhan have +1d on Attack Teeth and Defense Teeth. Baihan Origin Fighters Chimera Cloth Student A nondescript, pretty, handsome, or kind and elderly martial artist, serving you tea or alcohol. Little do you know, they are experts in the arts of violence. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

3/3/4

BRV

5/7/9

RES

3/3/4

FTH

4/5/6

SPD

4/5/6

Trait: Always Ready

Inflict Violence: Sleeve Flurry

The student ignores Provoke and Stealth, immune to vantagte and flanked. Igniting a fellow Baikhan fighter lets them teleport 1 and confers the other benefits of Always Ready.

Strike about with any weapon available: Area Metal Bravery Attack vs all targets in burst 1

GAMBITS (d8) 1-2 Stride > Walk On Smoke Style [1]: Rush 4, Fly for the duration of the movement > Inflict Violence 3-4 Rush 5 > Dragon State [1]: Gain POS+2 > Inflict Violence 5-6 Stride > Reciprocate Stance [1]: Gain the Reciprocate Stance until start of next Fulmination. When attacked, consume the stance to inflict violence, inflicting +1 Hit against the triggering fighter. 7-8 Walk On Smoke Style [1]: Rush 4, Fly for the duration of the movement > Silk Chakra [2]: Make an Area Fire Bravery + Faith Attack vs all targets in line 6.

VIOLENCE Shedaoist

Baikhan Geomancer

An Archer that practices patience and the styles of the Soft Riverine to fire extremely precise attacks at targets. They align themselves with the Tranquil Way to make sure their attacks always hit.

Auspicious diviners who bring fortune and merit through proper movement upon the earth and construction of buildings. In combat, they can use their incantations and techniques to manipulate the earth itself, as well as fortunes.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 5/6/7 POS 2/3/4 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 5/6/7 SPD 3/3/4 Trait: Way of Water Inflict Violence: Loose If the Shedaoist does not move voluntarily by End of Fulmination, they can turn 2 Hits into 2 True Hits on their next attack.

Fire a bullet infused with dao: Area Air Faith Attack vs all targets in line 6, ignores blocking terrain and cover

When they Ignite, every ignited fighter gains +1 to all ranges. GAMBITS (d6) Flow [3]: Fire an arrow into the sky. At any point outside of your own Fulmination, the arrow can drop down into any fighter, inflicting 1 Hit. Stride > Inflict Violence > Paralyzing Arrow [1]: 1 fighter in range 5 suffers Stop until end of their next Fulmination. Stride > Endless Vigil [2]: Take on the Endless Vigil Stance until start of next Fulmination. When a fighter moves into a square in range 5 of the Shedaoist, they may inflict 1 True Hit on that fighter. 1/Fulmination. Naga Arrow [3]: Area Water Bravery + Faith Attack vs all targets in path 7, inflict Unbalance [+1 per 8+ on the Attack Teeth]

1 2-3 4-5

6

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

4/5/6

POS

4/5/6

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

4/5/6

Trait: Geomancy

Inflict Violence: Entomb

The Geomancer has permanent Stability. When they Ignite, they also give Stability.

Entomb foes with burning earth: Area Earth Faith Attack vs all targets in burst 1 within 5 squares, inflict Stop

Geomancers inflict 1 True Hit to all enemies they forcibly move, once per enemy per Fulmination.

GAMBITS (d12) 1-3

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

4-6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Binding Talisman [1]: Inflict Binding [Bane] on 1 target in range 5. While suffering Bindings, they cannot move nor be moved. Teleport 4 > Geomantle [2]: Inflict 1 Hit and Leaden [Bane] on 1 fighter in range 3. While suffering Leaden they cannot move diagonally. Teleport 5 > Wind-Water Fist [2]: Make a Melee Water Faith Attack vs all targets in line 10, gain Overwhelming on the attack if target has Stop, Slow, SPD-X, Binding, or Leaden.

7-9 10-12

Alchemist Erudite philosophers and sages. Using internal alchemies they strengthen themselves, collecting Red Qi within, and then granting them to allies with external alchemies, expulsing Blue Qi.

Cataphract Armored horse riding warriors clad in steel and brigandine, carrying spears and shields to move across the field and break ranks.

MARTIAL ABILITIES

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

8/9/10

POS

4/5/6

BRV

4/5/6

RES

3/4/5

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

5/5/5

Trait: Knight

Inflict Violence: Dragoncharge

The cavalry is mounted: all melee Pierce through: rush 4 in a attacks against the cataphract straight line and then make a has Dullness. Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 close target. When the Cataphract ignites, the Cataphract and all ignited fighters gain Protect. GAMBITS (d10) 1-3

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

4-6

Stride > Keening Thunderhead [2]: Rush exactly 5 squares in a straight line, moving through enemies. Make a Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 close target with Skewering. Inflict 1 Hit on every enemy moved through. Stride > The Dragon’s Guard [1]: Inflict Provoke on all enmies in burst 2 > Deflect Stride > Dreadnought Stance [1]: Gain the Dreadnought Stance until start of next Fulmination. While in this stance, they have +2 SPD, they have Stability, and they are immune to all terrain. > Inflict Violence

7-9 10

HP

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

FTH

4/5/6

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Qi

Inflict Violence: Close Open Fist

The Alchemist plays with Qi, the vital breath of the universe. The Alchemist gains 1 Red Qi whenever they start their Fulmination or Ignite.

Strike with a closed fist: Melee Earth Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 3. The next time the Alchemist uses this Inflict Violence, they strike with an Open Palm: Melee Water Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 3, and then Push 3.

They gain 1 Blue Qi when they are healed or spend 1 Beat to turn any number of Red Qi to an equal amount of Blue Qi. If the Alchemist has an equal amount of Red and Blue Qi, they are considered In Balance. While In Balance, all allies in the battlefield have +1 to all Martial Abilities.

GAMBITS (d6) 1 2-3 4-5 6

121

Shared Breath [3]: Give any number of allies in burst 3 any number of Blue Qi. Stride > Inflict Violence > External Heaven [1]: Consume all Blue Qi on an ally to heal 1 that ally per Blue Qi consumed. Stride > Thunder Fang [2]: Spend any number of Red Qi to give an ally in burst 3 +1d on their next attack per Red Qi spent. Trigram [3]: Mark out a burst 2. Spend X Red Qi to inflict X Hit to all enemies in the burst, spend X Blue Qi to Heal X all allies in the burst.

VIOLENCE

Commandant

The Empire long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. The Hegemony of Baik Hu, under the great Vermilion Phoenix, of the Zhu Dynasty, faces upheaval. Many treat the Empress as weak, and they believe that they have lost the Mandate of Heaven. The Empire has begun to fracture: warlords have arisen. There are three major warlords, kings on their own, waiting for their chance to unite Baik Hu under their own sword and banner. How will all things under heaven react to the incoming end of times? The peasants rise, the warlords bring their weapon down. The Empire must divide. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

5 x Kadungganan

POS

3/4/5

BRV

5/7/9

RES

3/4/4

FTH

5/7/9

SPD

6/7/8

Traits

Inflict Violence: Draconic Halberd

All Subjects Under Heaven: Every start of Fulmination at Phase 1 Strike with a greater halberd, tassels flowing in the wind. Melee summon a Baikhan Raider minion in a square adjacent to the Water Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target. Commandant. Every start of Fulmination at Phase 2, the Commandant gains Block 1 and Rushes 1. Without Equal: Whenever the Commandant suffers a melee or ranged attack, they may inflict violence back at the target. Unbroken, Unbowed: After Striding for at least 4 squares, gain Metal Conditioning, Fire Conditioning, and Stability. GAMBITS (d8) Phase 1: Mounted General. Fighting atop a horse or a tiger, or maybe even a dragon. 1-2

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence > Gatling [1]: Inflict Violence without CB.

3-4

Stride > Spinning Tail [1]: Rush 2 through enemies, spinning through, inflicting 1 Hit once per enemy moved through > Dragon Mandate [2]: Make an Area Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in blast 3, all allies in the field may rush 3. 5-6 Stride > Dragon Blazing Halberd [2]: Melee Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in Path 4, all squares must be adjacent to the Commandant, inflict Push 3 > Dragon Charge [1]: Rush 5. If moving into an enemy’s square, stop the movement and Push 1 + 1 per rush left. 7-8 Stride > Drink Burning Elixir [3]: Add Overwhelming on next attack. Phase 2: August Xia. They shed all precautions, and fight full on. A true god of war. This triggers once they fall to 0HP: they heal to full HP again and keep fighting. 1 Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence > Gatling [1]: Inflict Violence without CB. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Stride > Spinning Tail [1]: Rush 2 through enemies, spinning through, inflicting 1 Hit once per enemy moved through > Dragon Mandate [2]: Make an Area Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in blast 3, all allies in the field may rush 3. Stride > Dragon Blazing Halberd [2]: Melee Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in Path 4, all squares must be adjacent to the Commandant, inflict Push 3 > Dragon Charge [1]: Rush 5. If moving into an enemy’s square, stop the movement and Push 1 + 1 per rush left. Stride > Drink Burning Elixir [3]: Add Overwhelming on next attack. Stride > Eight-Headed Dragon Lance [2]: Area Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in burst 3 > Deflect Promotion [2]: If there are any Raider Minions left, upgrade them into Baikhan Raiders (removing Minion) and healing them to full HP > Stride > Inflict Violence Stride > Green Dragon Crescent Blade [3]: Swing with a giant guandao: Area Metal Bravery Attack vs all targets in blast 10. Summon Army [4]: Cannot use this until Strike 5+. The Commandant rings their summoning bell. At the end of the next Strike, the fight ends as the Commandant’s Army arrives. The Kadungganan must choose to either flee or stay: either way, they are Defeated.

122

VIOLENCE

123

VIOLENCE Dead The Dead are those that walk despite having passed the coil., Sometimes it is the cause of blasphemous Asuwang Sorcery. Other times, the power and pall of the vengeful dead still wishing some sort of justice or penance for their past causes the flesh of the buried to rise from their graves, infused with necrotic spirit. Other times they are simply wandering ghosts with unfinished business. Other times they are spirits with evil karma, hungry for glory. Examples of undead are patianak female revenants, tiyanak goblins, and malanhig walking corpses. Dead Origin Template Each Dead fighter has the following mechanic: Grudge. When Dead fall to 0 HP, they become a pile of grudges, which can be moved through. However, they may still Fulminate: at the start of their Fulmination, they may roll a d8, they reform and heal 2 HP on a 5+. Piles of grudges can be exorcised by spending 1 Beat while close to them. Once Exorcised, they are removed from play. Additionally, a Ghost that falls to 0 HP due to a Fire attack immediately becomes Exorcised. Finally, Dead Fighters have earth conditioning. Dead Origin Fighters

Mangalayo

Wandering Kalag

A ball of fire, a soul of a murdered one tainted by atrocity and seeks revenge, or a guardian flame guarding a datu. Moves quickly, chases after those alive, and can grant fires onto allies.

Souls that wander this world in a corporeal form of air and akasa. Prone to aggression, but easy to subdue.

MARTIAL ABILITIES

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

1 [Minion]

POS

4/5/6

HP

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

4/5/6

FTH

4/5/6

SPD

3/4/5

Trait: Grasping Ghost

Inflict Violence: Claws

Pull 1 in range 5 every end of Fulmination. Has Conditioning to all attacks.

The hungry ghost shrieks, scratching and clawing. Melee Earth Faith Attack vs 1 adjacent target, inflict 1 Bleed

Trait: Watchlight All allies in burst 2 of the Mangalayo have Protect.

Inflict Violence: Embers Sparkling embers: make an Area Fire Faith Attack vs all enemies in burst 1, all allies in the field gain BRV+2.

GAMBITS (d6) 1

2-3 4-5 6

GAMBITS (d12)

Streak [3]: Rush 6 in a straight line, moving through enemies. Any enemies moved through suffer Fray. Any allies moved through gain Regen. Stride > Inflict Violence > Guiding Warmth [1]: All allies in burst 2 gain RES+2. Stride > Inflict Violence > Alight [1]: All allies in burst 2 gain FTH+2. Emblazon [3]: All allies in burst 3 gain +1 Hit on their next attack and can make it Fire. All enemies in the burst suffer Fray x2.

124

1-3

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

4-6 7-9

Stride > Inflict Violence > Shove Stride > Shriek [2]: All enemies in burst 3 suffer -1d to their next Attack. Stride > Grudge [2]: Choose 1 fighter in burst 3. If this Hungry Ghost is Defeated before the start of their next Fulmination, the chosen fighter suffers 2 Hits.

10-12

VIOLENCE Patianak

Busaw

Hobgoblin ghosts that used to be women that have died during childbirth, come to haunt villages by walking under their houses. They scramble across the earth quickly and erratically.

Those that die with vengeful hearts or because of horrible butchering sometimes become restless dead known as busaw, especially if they are warriors, priests, and nobles. Busaw can walk among folk, sleep in trees, and steal items from corpses so that those corpses are not saved by Iraon Daron.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

3/3/4

BRV

6/8/10

RES

3/3/4

FTH

6/8/10

SPD

4/5/6

Trait: Clattering Ghost

Inflict Violence: Claws

After making an attack, rush 1.

Strike with freakishly long claws: Melee Earth Faith Attack vs 1 adjacent target, then mark them. While marked, they cannot be healed nor gain Boons.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

7/8/9

POS

5/7/9

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

Trait: Corpse Eater The busaw is Size 2. All enemies adjacent to the busaw suffer Eviscerate.

GAMBITS (d8) 3-4 Leap/Stride > Rip [1]: Inflict Eviscerate on an adjacent fighter > Inflict Violence 5-6 Rush 5 > Jumping Ghost [2]: Leap 3 squares in a straight line. If ending in an enemy square, cling onto the enemy, inflicting SPD-2 and Fray until they defeat the Patianak or the Patianak leaps free for 1 Beat. A clinging patianak cannot move, but can continue making attacks. 7-8 Unhinge Jaw [2]: Gain Stability pull 2 1 enemy in range 3 > Devour [1]: Inflict 1 True Hit on an adjacent fighter,

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 5/6/7 POS 2/3/4 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 3/3/4 Trait: Drown Inflict Violence: Water Spout When a Siukuy is Defeated, Shoot a jet of water: Ranged they pull 3 all enemies in Water Faith Attack vs 1 target burst 3 of the grudge they in range 5 leave behind. Moving into a Siukuy’s pile of grudges is the same as moving into a chasm.

6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Deflect

4-6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Diseased Body [1]: Consume a Bane and heal 1. Stride > Break Earth [2]: Melee Earth Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target, inflict Unbalance. If there is an object or blocking terrain, the busaw can pick it up and slam it against the target, inflicting +1 Hit, Push 1, and put the object down at the square vacated. Corpse Omen [1]: Put down a corpse in range 4 > Stride > Consume [1]: The busaw can consume an adjacent corpse, healing 2 and then inflicting Daze on all enemies in burst 2.

10

Ghosts of those killed by drowning, manifesting as fishheaded water ghosts. They spout jets of water, strike with spears made of seaweed, and will stop at nothing until they are removed from drowning.

4-5

1-3

7-9

Siukuy

2-3

Fling a corpse part at a victim: Ranged Melee Earth Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 3, inflict SPD-1.

GAMBITS (d10)

1-2 Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

1

Inflict Violence: Throw Corpse

GAMBITS (d6) Water Jet [3]: Rush 4, turning all squares moved through into water terrain. Stride > Water Spear [1]: Inflict SPD-1 to a fighter in range 3 > Inflict Violence Stride > Water Beam [2]: Area Water Faith Attack vs all chosen targets in line 10 Dive [3]: You sink into mystical water: you gain POS/RES+2 and SPD+2. Inflict Slow on every enemy in burst 3. Rush 3 afterwards.

125

VIOLENCE

Unglu

The hungriest ghosts, dead spirits, burning shadows. They live in the mountains. Do not stay out in the mountains for too long. They will tear your skin. They run faster than wind. MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6 * Kadungganan

POS

BRV

5/6/7

RES

4/5/6

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

6/6/6

Traits

4/5/6

Inflict Violence: Shadowed Claws

Shadow Person. The unglu cannot be a valid target for any effect Beckon with shadowed claws: Melee Earth Faith Attack vs all unless the origin square is adjacent to the unglu. targets in blast 3, pull 1, inflict Fear Faster Than Wind. The unglu teleports when it moves. It inflicts 1 Hit on every fighter adjacent to it after teleporting. Fear. The unglu is one of the most feared creatures in Gubat Banwa. The unglu can inflict the Fear bane: Those with Fear cannot end their Fulmination closer to the Unglu, and they suffer -1d to all Defense Teeth. GAMBITS (d6) Phase 1: The Shadow Between The Trees. It flits between shadows. 1-2

Stride > Inflict Violence > Shove > Teleport 1

3-4 5-6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Shove > Darkened Form: Gain Stealthx2. Stride > Rip Defenses [1]: Inflict RES -1 on a fighter in range 3 > Scare [2]: Inflict Fear on all enemies in blast 3 Phase 2: The Thing That Flenses Skin. It crawls out into the light.

1-2

Stride > Inflict Violence > Shove > Teleport 1

3

4 5

6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Shove > Darkened Form: Gain Stealthx2. Stride > Rip Defenses [1]: Inflict RES -1 on a fighter in range 3 > Scare [2]: Inflict Fear on all enemies in blast 3 Make Fear Real [2]: Inflict 1 True Hit on all enemies in the field with Fear, then consume all Fear. Heal 1 per Fear consumed > Inflict Violence > Flitting Shadow [1]: Teleport 1. If adjacent to blocking terrain, cover terrain, wall or chasms, teleport to any other blocking terrain, cover terrain, wall or chasm. Nothing Is Scarier [4]: At the end of the current Strike, the Unglu disappears deeper into the woods, or away from the Battlefield. The Kadungganan suffer Defeat. If this Unglu is encountered again, they will have the same amount of HP remaining. If this is rolled before Strike 3, reroll it until it no longer rolls 6. Perform this automatically during the first Fulmination of Strike 6.

126

VIOLENCE

127

VIOLENCE Demons Asr, yawa, sitan, iblis. Demons roam Gubat Banwa, some of them having crawled out of the hells, others having been summoned here by sorcerers, even others simply being pure manifestations of human virtue and vice. Others are caused by atrocity, but where they truly come from none know. Demons are monsters of violence and avarice, known to arrive in places where either they can destroy or gain what they wish. Demon Origin Template Each Demon fighter has the following mechanic: Reckless Violence. At start of Strike 2+ and every Strike after that, if there are still Demons in the battlefield, they Fester, gaining +1d on all attacks. This is cumulative (so at Strike 3+, they gain +2d on all attacks, etc.). When a Demon is Defeated, they discorporate and Eviscerate all enemies in the battlefield. Unless the battlefield is purified or cleansed by proper rituals, they will rise again after eighty seven days. At the start of a Strike, if there are exactly 3 demons left in the battlefield, they may combine into an Violent Devil God: they combine their remaining HP, can use any actions that their components can use, and they gain infinite range on every effect. Demon Origin Fighters Corrupted Monk

Witch Demon

Demons that were commonly once shamans-priests. Wields giant monk staffs that have been shattered. Prods demons to burn with a greater violence.

A demon that has perfected witchcraft. Attracted to places of powerful sorceries, and wishes to destroy all witchcraft. Weaker mortals might create pacts with this demon to access sorcery.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

3/4/5

BRV

3/4/5

RES

4/5/6

FTH

4/5/6

SPD

3/4/5

MARTIAL ABILITIES

Trait: Tumult

Inflict Violence: Consecrate

When the Monk festers, they give Block 1 to all allies in the battlefield.

Unbless a place: Area Water Faith Attack vs all enemies in burst 2, then the burst becomes dangerous terrain (against enemies) until start of next fulmination

GAMBITS (d6) 1 2-3 4-5 6

Antigod Field [3]: Choose a square in range 3. A burst 2 Antigod Field erupts from it. All demons have +2d to all Attack Teeth. Stride > Inflict Violence > Feed Corpses [1]: Heal 1 an adjacent ally. Stride > Inflict Violence > Obscenities Against The Deva [1]: All allies in burst 2 gain +1d on their next attack. Hell Fog [3]: All allies in burst 3 gain +1 Hit on their next attack and can make it Fire. All enemies in the burst suffer Fray x2.

HP

4/5/6

POS

4/5/6

BRV

3/4/5

RES

3/4/5

FTH

5/6/7

SPD

4/5/6

Trait: Pact After inflicting hits on a fighter, make a Pact with them until start of next Fulmination. Consume the Pact at any point to force the fighter to inflict violence.

Fire a sulfurous orb: Area Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in burst 1 within 5 squares.

When the Witch festers, inflict 1 Hit to all Pacts currently in the field. GAMBITS (d12) 1-3

Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

4-6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Blood Bond [1]: Connect two fighters within range 5 of the Witch Demon and each other. A rope of blood binds them together: they cannot move further from each other. They must spend 1 Beat to cut the rope. Teleport 4 > Enrage [2]: Choose 1 fighter in range 3. They gain Overwhelming on their next attack, but they suffer Sunder x2. Teleport 5 > Witch Pact [2]: Choose 1 fighter in burst 4. They must inflict violence, with the target chosen by the witch.

7-9 10-12

128

Inflict Violence: Sulfur

VIOLENCE Warrior Demon

Ogre Demon

Crimson-skinned creatures, wearing bahag and clad in golden amulets, shocks of shorn black hair, crimson streaks across their body like tiger-stripes, and shattered halos looking like crescent moon horns.

Giant demons that have eaten a large number of other demons, festering and growing in their self-serving atrocity. Usually takes the form of humanoids, but can take on the form of giant boars, crocodiles, serpents, monitor lizards, and the like. Frequently travels around with a colossal weapon: a pillar from a palace, a bell from a temple, a giant hammer from a dead god.

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

6/7/8

POS

3/3/4

BRV

6/8/10

RES

3/3/4

FTH

6/8/10

Trait: Unending Violence When a warrior demon festers, they may immediately rush 4.

SPD

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP

10/12/14

POS

3/4/5

BRV

5/6/7

RES

4/5/6

FTH

3/4/5

SPD

3/4/4

6/6/7

Inflict Violence: Hateful Wrath Strike Assault them with giant weapons: Melee Fire Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target. If target is Staggered, gain Skewering.

GAMBITS (d8) 1-2 Stride > Stride > Inflict Violence

Trait: Brute

Inflict Violence: Heaven Pillar

The Ogre is Size 2. Whenever a demon is Defeated in the battlefield, the Ogre heals 1. When the Ogre Festers, they gain Block 1.

Strike down with a colossal weapon: Area Earth Bravery Attack vs all targets in line 3.

GAMBITS (d10)

3-4 Leap/Stride > Rejoice [2]: Inflict Violence. If it Defeats the target, Rush 2 and gain block 1. 5-6 Stride > Wild Swings [2]: Area Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in blast 3. 7-8 Carnage [2]: Rush 5. Inflict 1 Hit on any enemy that becomes adjacent to you during the movement, once per enemy. > Deflect

1-3

Stride > Leap > Inflict Violence

4-6

Stride > Inflict Violence > Go Wild [1]: Roll a d4. Inflict 1 Hit on a number of adjacent fighters equal to the result. Cannot hit the same enemy twice. Stride > Brute Stance [1]: Take on the Brute Stance until end of next Fulmination. While in this stance, gain Stability and every attack gives 1 Charge. Can spend X Charges to inflict +X Hits on any attack. > Inflict Violence Rush 2 > Lift [1]: Inflict Juggle on all enemies in blast 3 > Down To Narka [1]: Area Fire Bravery Attack vs all enemies in burst 3. If the target is Juggled, consume the Juggled to inflict +2 Hits and Stun.

7-9

Gun Demon A new and fickle demon, arising from a new sort of weapon. It is a bit trigger happy, and loves unloading hot steel upon the battlefield.

10

MARTIAL ABILITIES HP 5/6/7 POS 2/3/4 BRV 4/6/8 RES 3/4/5 FTH 4/6/8 SPD 3/3/4 Trait: Hot Chamber Inflict Violence: Live Bullet When the Gun Demon festers, it inflicts 1 Hit on d3 targets in range 3.

Shoot a curving demonbullet: Area Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in path 5

Gun Demons gain Sharpness instead of Dullness when attacking adjacent targets with ranged attacks. 1 2-3

4-5 6

GAMBITS (d6) Heat Up [3]: Gain 2 Bullets. When making any area or ranged attacks, spend the Bullets to gain +2d Attack Teeth per bullet. Stride > Devil Pistol Stance [1]: Take on the Devil Pistol Stance until end of next Fulmination. When attacked or a fighter moves into an adjacent square, consume the stance to rush 1 and inflict 1 Hit on the triggering fighter > Inflict Violence Stride > Ebony Ivory [2]: Area Fire Faith Attack vs all chosen targets in blast 4 Judas Silver [3]: Throw a silver coin to a square in range 4, another in range 5-7, and another in range 7-8. Then shoot the first coin: draw a straight line from the Gun Demon to the first coin, and then from the first to the second, and the second to the third. Inflict 1 Hit on every enemy whose square is touched by the lines. The coins stay for the rest of Violence: using this Technique again lets the Gun Demon shoot any of the coins.

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Asura

Asr, or Asura, are the great enemies of the Dewa, the Gods. The Anti-Gods: their natures are proud and haughty, do not perform proper sacrifices, reject the Noble Truths, violate sacred laws and spiritual places, break silences, and torture living beings with overwhelmingly excessive violences. It is once said that the ancient empress Tunggadewi, Consort of the Gods, went about and expunged asura from Gubat Banwa. Now, however, they reincarnate, heralding the end. MARTIAL ABILITIES 4 x Kadungganan POS 5/7/9 RES 5/7/9 SPD

HP BRV FTH Traits

Antigod Pierces Life: The Asura can move through enemies, inflicting 1 Hit, once per enemy per Fulmination. They ignore difficult terrain.

3/4/5 3/4/5 3/3/4 Inflict Violence: Deathbound

Send fists of pure annihilating energy: Area Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in blast 3 within 4 squares.

Wrath Greater Than Compassion: The Asura ignores all negative Ability Modifiers and is immune to Unbalance and Juggle. Additionally, all their area attacks ignore Block, and all their melee and ranged attacks have Skewering. Vanity: Asuras are vain beings. When they roll a 10, they Smirk (Boon). While Smirking, all 10s against them score just 1 Hit, they cannot gain any Poise Tokens, they cannot suffer any Vulnerabilities, and their Attack Teeth cannot be lowered. GAMBITS (d6) Phase 1: Lesser Asura. The Asura only uses two hands. 1-3 Stride > Inflict Violence > Shove > Deflect 4-6 Antigod Stance [2]: Inflict 1 Hit on an adjacent fighter and then take on the Antigod Stance until end of next fulmination. When suffering an attack, consume the stance to teleport 3 and inflict violence before the attack. > Stride > Inflict Violence Phase 2: Greater Asura. The Asura only uses four hands now, and their eyes glint with smokeless fire. Triggers when Staggered. While a Greater Asura, all 1s on Attack Teeth against them inflict 1 Hit on the attacker. 1 Battlefield of the Gods [2]: Change the weather to Rain, but the Asura is immune to its effects > Kaliyuga [2]: Inflict Slow on all enemies in burst 3. 2-3 Antigod Stance [2]: Inflict 1 Hit on an adjacent fighter and then take on the Antigod Stance until end of next fulmination. When suffering an attack, consume the stance to teleport 3 and inflict violence before the attack. > Stride > Inflict Violence > 4-5 Stride > Inflict Violence > Shove > Deflect 6 Stride > Asuri Astra [3]: Area Fire Bravery+Faith Attack vs all targets in line 10, mark each target. While marked, all attacks against them gain +1d. Phase 3: Greater Asura. The Asura grows in size and summons all six of their hands, each wielding a weapon. As with a Greater Asura, but they now no longer have Combo Breaker. Instead they have Rising Beat: they instead gain +1d/+2d instead of -2d/-3d. They also become Size 2. This triggers once the Asura falls to 0 HP. They immediately heal their Staggered value. 1 Battlefield of the Gods [2]: Change the weather to Rain, but the Asura is immune to its effects > Kaliyuga [2]: Inflict Slow on all enemies in burst 3. 2 Antigod Stance [2]: Inflict 1 Hit on an adjacent fighter and then take on the Antigod Stance until end of next fulmination. When suffering an attack, consume the stance to teleport 3 and inflict violence before the attack. > Stride > Inflict Violence 3 Stride > Inflict Violence > Shove > Deflect 4 Stride > Asuri Astra [3]: Area Fire Bravery+Faith Attack vs all targets in line 10, mark each target. While marked, all attacks against them gain +1d. 5 Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence > Inflict Violence 6 Nivatakawaca Defeats The Devas And Punctures Bhavacakra [4]: This can only be performed at Strike 6+. Reroll all 6 results at Phase 3 before Strike 6. The Asura stops all their actions and teleports to the center of the battlefield, wherein they begin charging to summon Siwa’s Trident. While summoning, they do nothing on their Fulminations, only summon. At the end of the next Strike, if the Asura is not defeated, they shatter the battlefield and send the Kadungganan to a hell realm deep in the underworld. The Kadungganan lose 1 Legend and fall to 0 Honor. The Festival of the Longest Night is heralded. If already heralded, it quickens and intensifies.

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VIOLENCE

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Beast Beasts encompass all animals: from animals that we might find here in our primary world to the unique beasts that can only be found here in The Sword Isles. Animals are part of nature, and are respected by the people of The Sword Isles. Beasts in The Sword Isles scale from life-force sucking mosquitos to giant slithering pythons that cause earthquakes.

Beasts don’t have Origin Types. Instead, add the Enrage Trait and one other Trait below on any particular Type as a Template. Trait: Enrage. When the beast becomes Staggered, they gain +1 to their BRV/FTH/SPD. Add one of the following: 0 Venomous/Blazing. Whenever the beast makes an attack, they inflict Fray 1 [+1 per 8+ on the Attack Teeth.] 0 Serrated: Whenever the beast suffers Hits, inflict Bleed 1 per Hit back at the attacker. 0 Sharpened Claw. If attacking with vantage or while flanking, the attack deals +1 Hit. 0 Truesight. The beast cannot suffer Stun, Daze, ignores cover, and does not treat enemies as blocking line of sight. 0 Predator. If the beast does not voluntarily move when they Fulmination, they gain Overwhelming on their next attack. 0 Behemoth. The beast cannot be moved forcibly by smaller Sized combatants. They are Size 2. 0 Unstoppable. Gain +1 BRV/FTH/SPD while the beast has Fray, Slow, Stop, Bleed, or Unbalance. Then, they ignore those conditions. 0 Avian. This Beast has Flying .

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Diwata/Devata

When making a diwata, choose 1:

Diwata are the strange uncanny beings unlike us. Those that live in the darknesses of nature, or the blinding crash of thunders, or in the burning crackles of flame. Those that tread across the trees, those that eat the heads of children. Diwata are little gods residing in the periphery, granting merit and taking it away. Demanding nourishment, demanding sacrifice, demanding reverence. Fear them, they look at you with bent eyes, with broken faces. They may be worshipped, but they do not need your worship. Also known as hyang in Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows, or diyos in Virbanwa. In Ashinin thought, Devas are on a higher stage to Enlightenment, but the pure joy of being a god makes it nigh impossible for one to achieve it. In Anitu (and other indigenous religions of the Sword Isles) diwata are unknowable beings, souls that are not human.

0 Offering. Place offerings in 4 different random squares on the battlefield, but are never closer than 7 squares to the Kadungganan. To pacify the diwata, the Kadungganan must go adjacent to each offering and interact with it to pick it up, and then give the offering to the diwata by interacting with the diwata while adjacent to it while holding the offering. 0 Sacrifice. Choose an enemy in the Battlefield that is not a diwata. That enemy must be defeated while within burst 2 of the Diwata to pacify them. 0 Influence. If there is a shaman or priest that the diwata can feasibly speak with, that wisefolk must speak and channel the diwata. While adjacent to the diwata, the chosen shaman or priest (only 1 can be the speaker) can spend 1 Beat to give the Diwata 1 Influence, and they can only do this 1/Fulmination. When a Diwata gains 6 Influence, the diwata is pacified. 0 Purify. Place 1 enemy per Diwata on the field. Those enemies must be defeated to pacify the Diwata.

Like with Beasts, the sheer multiplicty of diwata means they don’t have any unique Origin Types. Instead, follow the steps below to applying a Diwata Template.

0 Geomancy. Choose 5 random squares on the battlefield, nothing within 6 squares of the diwata. One must perform a ritual by spending 1 Beat while on that square. Once you have performed a ritual on each square, the diwata is pacified.

Diwata Template

0 Trial. Put down N-1 other enemies of appropriate tier within burst 4 of the diwata. The enemies must be defeated for the diwata to be pacified.

God. Diwata are gods of nature. They are not like us. Their uncanny nature inflicts awe and fear. All mortals that face a God suffer -1 to their BRV/FTH. Diwata can be spoken with and offered to, but they are hard to understand. Their motives can be hard to understand, alien as they are, but they are almost always aligned with protecting Universal Flow and the Right Path of Nature. Not Our Own. You cannot harm diwata, that is like striking at trees. To defeat a diwata, one must follow a particular set of rules, or perform a particular ritual, that very often does include violence. Diwata cannot be defeated, they can only be pacified, which is the same mechanically as Defeated.

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0 Wrathful Aspect. The diwata manifests in a physical form, becoming a Size 2 Brave with x3 HP instead of x2. Their physical form must be brought to 0 HP for them to be pacified. 0 Something Else. Diwata are unique and strange beings, transcendent of our mortal wiles. You can make a pacify condition for the diwata you choose. Make it something strange, something borne out of Southeast Asian rituals.

VIOLENCE

Choose 2 below for the diwata you make. Make sure this matches the diwata. For guardian gods, they might take Boundary and Life Furance for example. Alternatively, you may roll d20. 1.

Boundary: All squares adjacent to the diwata are difficult terrain for enemies.

2.

Life Furnace: Start the fight with Regen.

3.

Vajra: The diwata’s attacks always have Overwhelming.

4.

Untethered: The diwata has Flying.

5.

Forestwalker. The diwata ignores all terrain.

6.

Giant God. The diwata is Size 2 or 3.

7.

Royalty. When the diwata Shoves, they can target 1 fighter in range 10, and they can slide them by 3.

8.

Isvara. When an ally starts or ends their Fulmination adjacent to the Diwata, they heal 1 HP.

9.

Elemental Harmony. At the beginning of a Strike, the diwata must choose an element. All enemies suffer vulnerability to that.

11. Alignment With Nihaya. Choose 1 Element. When the diwata suffers an attack of that element, Hits heal 1 instead of reduce HP. 12. Geomantic Weapon. Choose 1 Element. When the diwata makeBs an attack with that element, they score 2 Hits on a 9+. 13. Strange Physiology. The diwata has spinnerets, or wings, or extraordinarily sharp claws. Choose any Bane, they inflict 1 stack of it when they Inflict Violence. 14. Godly Speed. The diwata teleports when they Stride.

10. Shrine. Place a shrine (Size 1 object) in the battlefield at the beginning of Violence. The diwata can use the shrine as the origin point for any effect. Attacking the shrine grants the diwata BRV/FTH+2.

15. Guardian Deity. When an enemy leaves a sq adjacent to the diwata, inflict 1 True Hit. 16. Diamond Body. When colliding with the diwata, they suffer no Hits and they inflict 2 Hits on the colliding target. 17. Indra’s Net. All things are interconnected. When the diwata Shoves, can choose 2 targets and teleport them 5 sq, and then the diwata teleports 5 as well. 18. Glory. When a diwata brings a target to 0 HP, they gain +1 Beat for their current Fulmination 19. Divine Wrath. At Strike 4+, the Diwata gains +1 to all Martial Abilities for the rest of Violence. 20. Gajaraja. A diwata has a giant mount. They are always considered 1 Elevation higher and they become immune to Unbalance, Juggle, and Stun.

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IV: KADUNGGANAN

The First Kadungganan Warband was said to have been formed by the ancient First Slave, who gathered together the first martial artists of the bloody Warring Realms, toiling under the Scourge, to strike back against the Invincible Queen of Glaves. The First Slave found the practitioner of striking arts, of quick-movement, fast as winds: Kalakatri, Her Murderous Glory, who wielded the first kalis and summoned ebony lightning. Kalakatri did not join him, but instead, granted the First Slave her sword and shield. Then the First Slave met the practitioner of protective arts, of shield protection, area denial, and forced movement: Sri Katun Sahaja, the Crumbling Boulder, who wielded the grand breastplate of defeated giants and deflected thunder. They went on to save the practitioner of vast striking, master of long-ranged arts, of swallow blades, of burning bullets: Lontok Alam Gantar, the Thundering Echoing Cannon, who wielded the first lantaka and was the crafter of firearms. They then had to persuade, up within a deep forest mountain, the great hexer, practitioner of the eldest witcheries, who could mold Scourge and make it into weapon: Dewasuhawa, the First Witch, who wielded the ancient palm leaf scrolls, summoner of both demons and gods. Finally, to complete the warband, they needed a warlord. A general who could lead them to victory. They found, sitting before a silent and stagnant, cold lake, the First Hari, the First God-King: The Conquering King Rajaraya Pintas. He who ventured into heaven and challenged The Sun Mother, he who ventured into heaven and stole the name Hari from the gods. The Conquering King was a demigiant: he was born from a giant mother and a bamboofolk father. His eyes were large, bulging, and his canines grew like tusks. He towered over the rest. But the First Kadungganan Warband banded together and defeated the Conquering King with diversity and understanding. With the defeat of the Conquering King, he agreed to join the Warband. And so The First Slave went on to challenge the Invincible Queen of Glaves.

KADUNGGANAN

The Kadungganan K

adungganan. Those that make war. Martial Artists, Warrior Braves, Executioners, Butchers, Warlords, Witches.

Those first one in and last one out, following the commands and ideologies of their lords. They are those that have obtained warrior prestige--some of them through prowess in battle, others through heritage, or birth, or ancestry-and have thus become elevated to the sides of their leader, acting as their sword and shield. They are known under many names: bhayangkara, timawa, satariya, managku, bagani, bayani, but altogether they know themselves as Kadungganan. The Elite of the Warrior Class. The Best of the Best.

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Martial Artists and Warrior-Sages.

They hold a special place of prestige in The Sword Isles: they almost always hold the highest echelon of the warrior class. They are regarded as just below their warrior-chiefs in prestige. They are Warrior-Elites, gentlemen, supreme martial artists. While they might not be as rich as their noble class counterparts, they are certainly held to a higher regard. They are akin to samurai, vikings, or a Spartan Elite. Kadungganan are free to Rush allegiance as they wish, sometimes paying only a small sum to the leader they are leaving. Thus Kadungganan are free to choose whichever job or venture prospect they would like. Some Kadungganan choose to stay for long with one Lord, but it is not uncommon to find Kadungganan who exercise their freedom. You play as a Kadungganan, someone who has attained that warrior prestige. Kadungganan prestige differs per person, of course, and you begin your Kadungganan career in the lowest rungs. The tail end of the crocodile army. The feathers of the king eagle. Struggle through this world, fighting for your convictions, for your lord, or for your self. The Kadungganan is the character through which the players wage war and love in the war-torn lands of The Sword Isles. Thus, it is integral to know how a Player, through their Kadungganan, interact with the mechanics and fiction of the setting.

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Kadungganan Creation Path Steps When creating a Kadungganan, you must follow The Path, which describes the following things: 0 Where you come from and how you were brought up (Culture, Subculture, Lineage, and Social Standing) 0 Something interesting that happened to you (Conjuncture) 0 How you approach things (Alignments) 0 What you learned to wield (Discipline) 0 Someone that you owe something to because of what you did (first Debt) 0 Something that makes things complex (Complication). 0 Why you fight (Conviction).

1: Choose a Folk Folk are purely cosmetic choices. They do not have on them attribute changes and whatnot, since all kinds of Folk can be found across the Isles. When in doubt, choose Bamboofolk: they are the most common of the folk. This one does not need a Lifepath choice, though it will most likely affect what your parents look like.

2: CHOOSE OR ROLL CULTURE After choosing a Culture, you must find out your Subculture, Lineage, and Social Standing. 0 Subculture is from which specific place in the mahamandala they come from, which colors how they approach the world. 0 Lineage is from what bloodline or history they come from, which might influence how they deal with the world. 0 Social Standing from what social class they were before they became Kadungganan, and might influence how they react to the world.

You can follow each step and roll randomly on each step, or choose whichever best suits your image of your Kadungganan.

3: Define Your Conviction

EXCLAIM Steps 4 and 7 are optional. If you

4: Discover Conjunctures, Debts and Complications

are running a short Arc or a one shot, you can ignore these. You can also choose to uncover these Complications, Debts, and Conjunctures through play.

the main ideal that the Kadungganan is fighting for. It might define how they deal with everything in the world, and why they fight and toil in the wheel of violence. Find out your Conjuncture, something that happened to you in the past. Then Choose 1 person that you owe a Debt to and then 1 Complication you share with your Bandmates.

5: Divine Alignments Choose your Alignments which alignments correspond to the 5 Essences of Nature in Gatusanon Geomancy and Religion. Alignments reflect how your character might approach a situation or action. The spread is 2, 1, 1, 0, 0

6: Train Abilities and Disciplines Distribute 2 points among your five Martial Abilities (BRV, FTH, POS, RES, SPD). Remember that each starts at 3. Choose a Discipline. You gain that Discipline’s

HP, Traits, and Inflict Violences.Choose 2 Techniques from that Discipline, keeping in mind the prerequisites.

7: Find Your Warband Create your Warband with the group. 0 Choose your Warband Nature from the list. 0 Define together what Conviction your Warband is fighting for. 0 Talk about how the Kadungganan met.

8: Your Violence Begins Finally, choose a name, and then begin at Legend 0. You must inscribe your name upon chants of the saga-singers.

the

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Alignments Alignments are the essences of nature in folk religions of Gatusan Folk. The belief in Alignments stem from a syncretization of elemental theory from the Ashinin priests, as well as knowledge passed down from Annuvaran missionary-monks that arrived at Gatusan through diffusion from Ba-enon shaman-priests. The five elements are fire, water, metal, earth, and air. When creating a character, you have to spread 2, 1, 1, 0, 0 among them, and whenever your Legend Grows you gain 2 points to spread them.

Fire

Air

Dynamism, Enthusiastic, Passion

Fickle, Free-Spirited, Benevolent

Fire is the element of strength, persistence, and restlessness. A flame burns continuously until something puts it out, or until it eats up all the fuel that it gives itself. In Gubat Banwa, Fire includes not just the burning blazes, but also the nourishing warmth of the sun, the heat of live bodies, the hotness generated by leaping into love and war. Gods aligned with Fire tend to be passionate and hot headed.

Air is the element of vivacity. It represents flexibility, fecundity, beginning of life (as the Breath is air), and is constantly moving, never staying in a single place. Air gives birth to fire, moves water, important for crafting metal, and is the sister to earth. Many Air Gods and Spirits reside in the upper realms, in the Skyworld, and are generally the most powerful of the gods. Air is the element of aristocrats and nobles, those who have the capability to travel across the realms.

Associations: Warriors, Red, Indigo, Yellow, Orange, Noontime, Sun, Stars, The Rooster ROLL THIS WHEN APPROACHING SOMETHING THROUGH CREATIVITY, PASSION, ENTHUSIASM, EMOTION, OR DIPLOMACY.

Water Tranquility, Intelligence, Fluidity Water is the element of wisdom. It is fluidity, it is flowing. In Gubat Banwa, water is the most powerful element, as it surrounds the lands and it overflows into the edges of Trichiliocosm and beyond. The rules of the sea are different from the rules of the land: dying in the sea will not grant you the same afterlife as dying on land. You become sea gods and spirits. Water is a mysterious element upon which everything else floats. Water Gods and Spirits are almost unknowable, fickle, but with a terrifying calm. The kind of calm that comes with the knowledge that you will outlast everything. Associations: The Naga (dragon), the Color Blue and Black, the Moon, Cold Weather, Sages, Night ROLL THIS WHEN APPROACHING SOMETHING THROUGH KNOWLEDGE, SPEECH, WISDOM, SPIRITUALITY, OR SUBTLETY.

Metal Controlling, Ambitious, Determined. Metal is the element of ambition. Constantly driven by their need to succeed, their need to stay in control. Metal is a more modern conception of the element: Kadanay sages and some Apumbukid sages equate Metal to Gold, the greatest metal. Metal is generally the element concerned with merchantry, farming, war, and civilization. Gods of Metal are those closely knit with Folk Culture, and are usually those with the most power, similar to how Gold holds the most power in the isles, and is a symbol of the Sword Isles’ inherent value.

Association: Aristocrats, Storms, Planting Season, Dawn, Green, Yellow, Blue, Indigo, The Hornbill ROLL THIS WHEN APPROACHING SOMETHING THROUGH GRACE, DEXTERITY, WIT, REACTION, OR QUICKNESS.

Earth Stable, Nurturing, Secure Earth is the element of nature, of life and death. It is the element found in the mountains, in the trees, all the way to the depths of the underworld, where the gods of the earth sleep in the sacred darkness of the boughs. The element of earth is very all encompassing, it includes the animals and the godly beasts, even the grand staircases that lead to heaven, and the jaws of the world that keeps the continents from spilling out into nothingness. It is nature itself, brother to the Air and Water. Earth is the where all things go through: the air screams through treetops, the water becomes rivers upon it, metal is born from it, fire scours it. Association: Workers, Harvesting Season, Masculine and Feminine together, Yellow, Brown, Orange, Beige, the Crocodile ROLL THIS WHEN APPROACHING SOMETHING THROUGH VIGOR, STEADFASTNESS, STAMINA, ENTHUSIASM, AND FRIENDSHIP.

Associations: Rulers, Weaponry, Falling Leaves, Night, Dusk, Civets, Gold, Silver, Gray, Red, Orange, The Turtle ROLL THIS WHEN APPROACHING SOMETHING THROUGH WILLPOWER, STRENGTH, COMMAND, FORCE, OR LEADERSHIP.

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Folk

The people of The Sword Isles are numerous. All those born in the islands, no matter what they might look like, are known as tawo. Together they are all called Folk. The folk of The Sword Isles are the people that fill the entire world. The following are the Folk that are prevalent in The Sword Isles that you can play as. However, all sorts of folk live in The Sword Isles. If you want to live as a frogfolk or hornbillfolk, feel free! These are just to inspire you.

Kawayanon Commonly known as The Bamboo Folk, Kawayanon are the most populous Folk in the Sword Isles, owing in no small part to their propensity to reproduce and intermingle with others, being social animals. Kawayanon are those born from a piece of bamboo that floated in from the Endless Sea after multiple cosmogonies. They arose after a great king eagle pecked them out from their bamboo vessels. The first Kawayanon had no gender. However an ancient Devil-Eel known as Apung Gisibak fought with the great Eagle and the Sky, and then deceived the Kawayanon to fight with him. As punishment for one of the first acts of violence, the Great Eagle and the Grand Sky came down and sundered the Kawayanon, inflicting gender upon them, and enforcing a spiritual unity to be able to create new ones. Tinges of their foliage-ancestry echoes in small distinctive features, such as having leaf- or nut-shaped ears, green and brown eyes, supple pale brown skin. Rarer are more obvious manifestations of this: leafy hair, purple veins, long fingers, lanky body types, and much more. Kawayanon usually live for up to 80 to 100 harvests, but many seek a poultice of immortality.

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Iro-Iro The dogfolk are the faithful warriors of Apu Balatik, who followed him to the ends of heaven. As a gift for their faithfulness, Apu Balatik blessed all dogs with the cunning ability to hunt down all things. The name Iro comes from the first dog, their First Ancestor, Iro, who gave his life for Apu Balatik. When Iro died, Apu Balatik emblazoned him across the sky as a streak of lightning, and thus he is now known in the sky as the heavenly lightning dog, Kimat. It is said that sometimes the puppies and brood of Kimat venture down into the earth through these lightning bolts, and they are known as Kimat-Kimat. Iro-Iro are blessed with the inherent capacity to hunt. They therefore make for great warriors and hunters, which goes without saying. They are beholden to creating tightly knit communities, and thus are known for their ability to easily integrate into any community easily. Iro-Iro Ethnicities are wide and varied, similarly to Kawayanon: those in the far Continent might have lion-dog aesthetics, those in the far west might have more Beagle or Corgi aesthetics. Iro-Iro usually live up to 70 harvests in general.

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Kamikam The catfolk are those that resemble large humanoid cats, but are widely understood not to be them. They were the children of the god of hunting, Apu Balatik, alongside the dogfolk. When the catfolk did not join Apu on his journey to hunt the stars, they were deemed lazy. However it was the ancestors of the catfolk that invented the great number of traps and hunting arts in The Sword Isles now. The term Kamikam is an ancient word that Apu Balatik gave them: it is a term that meant “the wagging tail of a cat”. He gave them this when he realized the first thing they would usually do before doing anything was to wag their tails. However, Kamikam, chosen children of Apu Balatik alongside the Iro-Iro, also inherented his vicious hunting intent and instinct, and thus they make for fierce warriors. Kamikam ethnicities are wide and varied across Gubat Banwa: those in the far Southeastern Continent might find Kamikam that look like fierce golden tigers, in which they are called Auraskan. In the Baikhan continent they might find grand lions. Common in the northern islands of the Sword Isles are those that resemble binturong, or bearcats.

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KADUNGGANAN Laksaman The monkeyfolk are acrobatic leapers and warriors, who fought in the wars of Rajah Mangadiri fight back and kill the demon forces of Banjarmasir, which led them to be an exalted people. Their ancestor, Laksamana, was the one that killed the great ten-headed demon god Maharaja Lawana, and is the reason why Banjarmasir is the city with the most population of monkeyfolk. Most Laksaman are common in settlements and cities that allow ancestor worship, as much of their traditions as a Folk center around the grand stories of their great ancestor. Despite this, Laksaman are still very common in other cities, and they mingle commonly with Kawayanon, who find that they have a lot in common with. In the far Continent, their ancestor is known as Hanoman, and they themselves are known under the name of Hanu. Laksaman are always skilled warriors that have no qualms in showing off their prowess, and thanks to their bloodlines, they are incredibly dextrous, letting them move across the thick terrains of the Sword Isles easily. Their ethnicities are wide and varied, as many as there are actual kinds of monkeys in Gubat Banwa. Laksaman usually live until 100 harvests.

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KADUNGGANAN Pilandokan The deerfolk are diminutive mouse deer people descended from the Almighty Trickster of Akai history, Pilandok. Pilandok was so great that he once became a sultan of an entire kingdom, without the actual sultan even knowing! As punishment, Pilandok was cut up into a thousand pieces, and that was how the deerfolk were born. Of course, Pilandok is still alive. If one asked Pilandok why he performed the deed, he would reply: “is there anything funnier than a king?” Most Pilandokan are small and slender in stature, none of them reaching taller than 5 foot 5 inches. However, there are some Pilandokan that have stranger bloodlines and can reach taller than that. In general, however, they are known for not being too large, and for having distinct deer-like features upon their face. Their hooves and legs let bound across landscapes with ease. Pilandokan ethnicities vary widely and greatly, but they almost always stay small and below their average height despite it. While they don’t inherently have a propensity for being tricksters, many of those that have heard of their stories immediately associate Pilandokan with Pilandok. Pilandok usually live 75 harvests.

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KADUNGGANAN Pak-an Pak-an means winged. The birdfolk are descendants of the ancient sky king Rajah Lawin, who rules over all the sky raptors. When Rajah Lawin was killed by Jamiyun Kulisa with his Thunderbolt, Rajah Lawin’s electrified blood coagulated and formed into the pak-an in mid-air. However, Jamiyun Kulisa asked Amihan and Habagat, the Elder Monsoons, to never allow the pak-an to fly, even with their wings. Many Pak-an look similar enough to Kawayanon, however their hands and feet (and sometimes their face) tend to have very avian features. They are sometimes confused with kinnara and kinnari, though they are not that, for they are not divine. Jamiyun Kulisa has made sure of that. Instead, many Pak-an cultures revere the Galura, which bring about the changes in winds across the seasons, as well as the Garuda, avian gods that live in the heavens and engage in an everlasting war with demon forces that threaten to destroy the upper firmament of the greater Kalibutan. Pak-an ethnicities are once again very varied: crow-like features are common across the isles, and some look even like hornbills. They are as varied as Kawayanon, and grand pak-an live alongside most kawayanon to great effect, serving as helpers, elders, counselors, and warriors for settlements found across mountains and cliffsides, where they are most comfortable--or perhaps most eviscerated, as the constant height is a reminder of what they cannot do. Most Pak-an live for 80 harvests.

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KADUNGGANAN

Cultures

The five major polities have five bespoke cultures that color and inform how your Kadungganan will look at the world. Choose 1 from below, or roll a 1d10-- 1-2: Gatusan, 3-4: Apumbukid, 5-6: Akai, 7-8: Virbanwan, 9-10: Ba-e

Gatusan

A small company of sea raiders sang their shanties and echoed their songs of wars to the setting sun. They sailed home from a long day of raiding, covered in tattoos and abaca armor and hardwood breastplates, brandishing their kampilan and krises and bows and bangkaw spears. Their song was a song that echoed across all of the Gatusan: “We warriors of Datu Tupas... Are warriors undefeatable!” And they sang and danced and chanted. “Captain, incoming!” shouted the young man clinging atop the roof of their karakoa, like a monkey. “To the northwest!” All of them turned to where the sun was setting and sure enough, there was a small battalion of them, heading straight for an engagement. “Warriors of Datu Ha-ik Lawot! Tiglantakas, man your stations and fire when ready!” The booming sound of the lantakas resonated across the sea. The warriors of Radya Sandata sung and laughed as they took out at least two of the incoming warriors. The others were quick, howver. One of them, a large brown man with tattoos covering his face in the visage of a demon, hollered. “O, these stupid warriors! They’ve come to take their revenge.” “And shall we let them have it?” Asked the man standing at the bow of the ship, raising his kalasag and kampilan. He wore a hardwood pakil breastplate and a pakupya helmet. “To arms! Buwaya riders at the ready!” The slender man of the raiding party nodded, and they began prodding the large crocodiles that rested on the back end of the ship. The crocodiles slipped into the sea, and the buwaya riders hopped atop them, positioning themselves onto their mounts. There were only three of them: one of them wielded a salapang trident, two more wielded bows. “Charge!” The buwaya riders split wide, hoping to flank in on the incoming warriors, who seemed to be riding on the backs of sharks. “Captain!” Shouted the scout once again. “I can see what they’re riding now! They’re... O Indira Suga! They’re balu riders!” And when the scout screamed that warning, the incoming warriors of Ha-ik Lawot screamed ululating cries, and their fish mounts took to the skies. Balu were winged swordfish, and the warriors of Ha-ik Lawot were infamous for having them. “And I thought we were going to have an easy one,” said the captain. “Buwaya riders, advance! Men, bring out your spears: We have a fish to catch!”

The Rajahnate of Gatusan is a collection of settlements and cities all bound beneath a collectively chosen Overlord, known as the Rajah. While these datu do not see the Rajah as superior, they do go to the Rajah to resolve interpolity disputes. The Collective of Crocodile Lords decide who becomes Rajah, but lately the Collective has been gripped by the lineage of Ambasi, who traces a direct line to the legendary founder of Kangdaya, Sri Bishaya, the Tempestuous Tiger Who Roars from the White Mountain.

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History The Rajahnate was established by the Auraskan Prince from the far eastern kingdom of Mahajola. This prince, named Sri Bishaya, left to establish his own kingdom. He found it in the far island of Tauhaw, in the island hinterlands. Eventually, Sri Bishaya had two sons: Sri Bantug and Sri Daya. They warred for ownership of Kangbishaya and Tauhaw, and in the end Sri Daya struck the killing blow upon Sri Bantug’s breast. Thus, Kangbishaya became Kangdaya, the seat of the Rajah across the Rajahnate. After Sri Daya became Rajah, he went on a tour of duty, making sure that surrounding islands swore a blood oath to him, and traded with him, strengthening his own polity. Then, he proceeded to focus his efforts on creating fortifications and weapons to combat the invading hordes of the magalo from beyond the jaws of the world. The current Rajah is Raja-Batara Ambasi, who is the third son of Sri Malaya, who is the last direct descendant of Sri Daya. He carries within him auraska blood, which shows in the crimson tinge of his hair. He is, other than Shri Bishaya, the first Rajah to take the moniker or Hari, which is the term for God-King. His majesty and strength is recognized indubitably across the 999 Chiefdoms. He will lead Gatusan into the Great World Raid. At one point in a dream, he saw the Suladnon Bakunawa-one of the many celestial eaters--rise from the sea and attempt to eat the sun instead of the moon, and she spoke to him, telling him that as she will consume the sun, so will the Rajahnate consume the islands. Promising victory, Batara Ambasi solidified his connections and kin and proceeded to conquer a Sultanate city on the opposite coast of his island. Through this act of supreme valor, he consolidated his Rajahnate.

Tradition Warriors of the Gatusan region are born into a freewheeling society of poets and and sea raiders. Their culture values valor, glory, freedom, and community. Children are expected to be well-versed in poetic tradition--even those that are not royalty--due to histories and stories passed down through these songs. Sea shanties are old stories by ancient shamans. Part of the coming of age ritual for any Gatusan is the tattooing, a spiritually important practice that puts the child down the Glory Path. They gain this at first conquest of war or violence. Gatusan cultures believe that dying in combat is a one-way path to becoming a god, an ancestor that is worshipped. Their kalag (souls) become deities to be invoked. Those that find true Glory often become Himayanon, or Blossomed: those that leave the Makinaadmanon (Cruel Wheel), and are liberated through their own violence.

KADUNGGANAN Noteworthy Persons Rajah Batara Ambasi is the current Rajah, who heads a Rajahnate that has at least twenty Datu under them. Rajah Batara Ambasi sits upon his high-backed bamboo throne: a bamboo dais whereupon he sits in a lotus position, overlooking the Throne Hall of the Dawneater Longhouse Palace, which takes person a few minutes to walk from end to end. His presence looms over all: like a god he watches. Whenever a visitor enters, he lifts his right hand with the pointer finger pointed at the visitor, and the other fingers touching the thumb, palm raised up: this is the Thunderbolt Mudra, to show that he can remove the visitor from kalibutan easily. His arms are covered in bangles and armlets of pure gold until his hands, which are so scarred and tattooed that they look more like tiger claws. He wears a sarong that is as long as the great hall of his Dawneater Palace, and he wears three garments atop that: a single cuirass of gold and abaca, a long-sleeved gown of foreign silks and gold spun so thin that they are as silk, and a giant shawl that wraps and covers his shoulders and neck, which floats about him like a cloud and fulminates as if a living flame. His feet are always covered, none of his tattoos can be seen by lowly mortals and non-royalty. His hair is white like tiger fur, braided intricately yet still wild, so long that it lies in a spiraling pile beside his bamboo palace. Over that he wears a golden pudong that is as tall as his torso, ornamented with carnelians, agates, sapphires, emeralds, and golden nuggets folded into flowers with infinite petals. His face is intricately tattooed in crimson and black in the face of a howling tiger, a beast rare in the islands. His eyes, most frightening of all, are the true eyes of a tiger’s: feline, striking, and lusting for blood. The Rajah is a peerless swordsman, and one who has an impeccable handle over sorceries, trained by a powerful Hexers. Many have tried to extinguish the flame of his majesty: his policies tend to open up too much, and Rajahnate patriots wish for a Rajahnate that puts their own culture first, pushing out foreign influences. The Rajah says this is folly, and wishes to incorporate all. His goal is said to be this: the destruction of the Rajahnate itself. A goal which Rajahnate faithful cannot abide. He has managed to survive every assassination attempt thus far. Only a truly concerted effort can bring him down now. Rajah Batara Ambasi’s taste for grandeur is reflected in the grand city of Kangdaya, golden and gleaming, with rivers running up its densely populated neighborhoods. With Baikhan junks and Naksuwargan adyongs all embarking and disembarking within, with their marketplace always filled. The Rajah will make sure that those that try to depose him understand why he is Rajah in the first place. Datu Sukarno. A mustachioed Datu who hails from the island of Buwol, upon the grand city of Tajilaran. Datu Sukarno is a well known scheming warlord, who wants nothing but the safety and freedom and prestige of his home banwa.

Thus, he seeks to become the new Rajah, planning on gathering as much power as he can, to make sure that Tajilaran becomes the trading entrepot that Kangdaya is today. He regularly raids trading ships to Kangdaya to try and destabilize the Rajah’s power, and he is quickly amassing a fighting force of a hundred Kadungganan to fight beside him in the growing tensions. Sam’baha Dimantag. The granddaughter of the now dead raider-datu Sripulapula, who fought against Sri Malaya himself in an attempt to destabilize his power, and killed the first Pale King in the isles, Fernaw Magalyanes. Sam’baha, is a skilled Kadungganan who excels with the kampilan. She regularly travels to try and find more challenges, in the hopes that she can be strong enough eventually to become a Datu and kill all Pale Kings. Other Culture Impressions To Virbanwa: Feh, those knights have sat on their horses for so long their saddles run up their ass! Fuck their livers, they don't own shit. To Akai: We used to raid them, now we raid each other. Come, moon raiders: the seas part for we alone! To Apumbukid: Friends, but the raiding we do is a cesspool for atrocity, breeding ground for disharmony, for Dihiyang. They don't like that, and when they strike without remorse, we don't like it either. To Ba-e: Like my sister always said: respect your elders! But if they get uppity, we'll sail to their trading docks and remind them who it was that raided the shores of Baik Hu. Gatusan Honorifics: Laki [la-KEE] (Masculine), Bayi [ba-YEE] (Feminine), Sri (General, for Nobles) Gatusanon Naming Convention: Gatusanon are given names that describe qualities the family wants for them, a particular natural phenomenon that happened during the birthing, a beautiful tree or other natural item or the craving or fascination of the mother while pregnant. This can be a single word, or two, or sometimes entire sentences. Gatusanon can choose names for themselves as well. Gatusanon Names: Siga, Liluan, Bagul, Aliluyuk, Mahimayaon, Haraw, Salug, Hinagiban, Daya, Hamabad, Kagiw, Gaang, Idyap, Alangilan, Bulsuk, Kutlu, Tanaman, Adilpa, Daganas, Nasirakna, Idda As a Gatusanon, keep the following in mind: 0 You are prone to song.

0 The Datu must always be respected, unless you have the strength to do otherwise. 0 All loot must be shared with the datu. 0 Respect those with skill. 0 Fuck with others.

As a Gatusanon you begin with two: A set of crafting tools, an anvil, a bag of trinkets, a tutubi necklace (gold necklace that resembles dragonflies), flowers and herbs for dyes, jade earrings, something you’ve created, a pouch of failed inventions, a boat lute (kudyapi), a bamboo flute, a jaw harp, palm leaf scrolls, writing implements, a ceremonial staff, tinder, a piece of the sky

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KADUNGGANAN Subculture

There is a large number of subcultures in the Gatusan Isles. It is in its name, after all: they number in a hundred. But here we will detail the most common 8. The Gatusan Isles’ diversity is only rivaled by those in the Footsteps of the Gods. Roll d8 or choose. 1 Mantiwan. The Isle of Ghosts and Phantasms and undead. A cursed island, any settlement that arises from here is immediately destroyed save for a single harbor principality, named Mantiwmantiw, led by Datu Kinatak, which is said to have created an accord with the death diwata that lives within. You can speak Mantiwanun and start with ritual deathrope. 2 Sagkabanun. The Isle of Sea Warriors, who have the capacity to travel the Vastness of Wine, who live in the isle of Mairete. They are unmatched in their boat building capabilities and have become important allies for Kangdaya: most of their boatwrights come from here. You can speak Sagkbanun and start with an adze. 3 Noroknon. You come from the monastic village of Norok. A popular polity led by CourtesanDatu Sinhata. It can be found in Salima Falls, one of the steepest and tallest waterfalls in all of The Sword Isles. There, the Salima Hotsprings lie at the base, heated by the volcano Duluum. The people of Norok have monastic-sages named Tigtimbang, those that weigh or keep the balance, and preach the holy faith of Hiyang, oneness and balance with nature, otherwise known as Conjunction. They are most known for worshipping the holy mountain of Ubir, whereupon a great Dakbalete can be found, said to house a number of spirits within. The Dakbalete, known as the Spirit’s Bathhouse, is said to be a gateway into the realm of the spirits, as well as to Sulad. Norok is the constant giver and receiver of trades against Pannai. You can speak Noroknon and start with flowering staff. 4 Put’wanon. You come from Put’wan. Once a burgeoning kingdom of their own, they have since fallen in glory. Ancient Put’wan once rivalled Ba-e in glory, and had great Annuvaran Kings of Righteous Merit. Much of the Put’wan warlords have traveled to Akai, where they grew in power and fealty to the Sultanate. The current Lord of Put’wan, Sarripada Sahaya, is the current brother of Raja Batara Ambasi. Thus while he pays fealty to the Rajah, he still commands a great deal of autonomy. Put’wan itself was known as the City of Gold before Kangdaya. Built kilometers along the Inagos River, the river itself yields gold by just panning. Thus, gold was used as decoration for houses, for plates, for weapons and armor and more. Even debtors. A great number of goldsmiths, showing off their skill in their craft with their ability to fashion and craft gold like silk, come from Put’wan. In ancient times, Put’wan also had regular contact with Baik Hu and Loc Luang, trading and raiding their shores. You can speak Put’wanon and begin with a kalis with a pearl hilt. 5 Gandaranon. You come from Gandara. A small fishing polity led by the Fisher-King Datu Balahura, who has a pet whale shark. Every year, someone is abducted by the forest, never to be seen again. None question this, although they say it is so that fishing remains bountiful, and that it is the unglu, lithe and tall shadowfolk that live in the mountains and the forests that need to be appeased. Many missions are sent there by the Lakanate but so far none have succeeded. At night, people speak of a mysterious City of Lights, which they have come to call Lungsod-Liwanag. Shining City. It trades amiably with the polities of Ibalnong. You can speak Gandaranon and begin with a fishing rod.

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KADUNGGANAN 6 Sinugpuanon. You come from Sinugpo. A city-state ruled by a long line of blue-blooded Datu, in the western peninsula of the Ramasa Island. They hold diplomatic relations with Naksuwarga and are known to train the fiercest of warriors. They conduct raids along the coast of Virbanwa, leading them to become hated enemies. They are masters of sea raiding and are known to hold good relations with almost all the other city-states, making them a formidable force to anger. Their current Datu, Datu Sangbagsik, is rumored to be plotting to overthrow the current Rajah and become the next one. You can speak Sinugpuanon and begin with a porcelain jarlet of palm wine. 7 Panglawanon. Panglaw is the great city across the Strait of Kangdaya, upon the isle of Buwol, where the great Raja Sri Gatun fended off a contingent of Pale Kings during the First Albanon Arrival. They reckon a bloodline straight to Rajaraya Pintas, the first Conquering King, and their warrior pride matches even those of Kangdaya. A number of martial arts settlements have arisen in Buwol for this reason. You can speak Panglawanon and start with a tasseled ceremonial spear. 8 Kangdayanon. You belong to the great city of Kangdaya, the beast of our times, the one that shall eat the dawn. While not blessed with the great stupas and pagodas of Ba-e, the city stretches up the grand river and across the bay of Mantawili, and over even to the isle of Opon. A giant sword turned lighthouse sticks up from its bay. It has fended off the Pale Kings before, and thus it has never known defeat. The grand palace of the Hari belongs here, burgeoning with alloyed gold and bronze, unfellable, guarding the oldest strangler fig tree, known also as Malaun. You can speak Kangdayanun and start with city clothing (a sarong, a silk jacket, and a headwrap). The largest city of the Rajahnate on the western island of Tauhaw. Kangdaya is the richest settlement in the Rajahnate, ruled by the Rajah Batara Ambasi from within its golden walled pagodas. Known as the City of Gold, they are in position of large amounts of iron from mining, gold from their homes and rivers, and weapons from their diplomatic relations with the Baik Hu Hegemony, of which they have become an honored vassal state, thus giving Rajah Batara Ambasi the title of Hwang, and also thus being recognized as King by not just his own people, but also by the Hegemony of the Baik Hu Empire. Those that live in Kangdaya enjoy greater pleasures and privileges when it comes to trade and import. One can find bamboo-and-balete magdantang (communal spirit houses) and layered city walls in Kangdaya, They have since become a major target of Naksuwarga and Virbanwa during the Second Star Era. Destabilizing Kangdaya is the key to conquering all of Rajahnate. The greatest of the Rajahnate’s Kadungganan, all of which are called timawa, are trained here in the Monastery of Winds.

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KADUNGGANAN Lineage

If you are a Gatusanon, roll a d8 or choose from the following lineages. 1

Warrior Lineage. You come from a family of warriors faithful to the Rajahnate, who treat the new Hari as a close family friend and have pledged blood compacts with. Your tattoos sing of your courage and prowess.

2

Merchant Nobility. You come from a family of rich merchant princes who have traveled as far as the distant lands of Baik Hu, and perhaps have enterprises in Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows.

3

Tattoo Artists. You come from a long line of tattoo artist professionals, or mamamatuk. You inscribe stories and traditions upon skin. Outsiders of the Sword Isles see that they didn’t practice painting on paper, but that is because the islanders paint upon living canvas.

4

Singers. You come from a family of professional singers, who sing both epics and traditions, both glories and dirges.

5

Traveler. You come from a family of skilled travelers, who ventured from isle to isle selling wares or offering their services. A very uncommon lineage in the isles, but they are more than happy to offer their barges to those that need it and can offer to pay.

6

Sensitives. You come from a family touched by the spirits of the world, the diwata, and are inherently in tune with Diwa, the world’s Strike. Your parents might have been the balyan (shamans) that channeled and performed concordance with the greater beings of nature.

7

Adopted. You were adopted into a family of courtesans and singers instead of warriors. You’ve never known your real family.

8

Tiger-Blooded. You are a scion of the legendary tiger blood of Raja Batara Ambasi, and you might be eligible to take the Dawn Eater Crown. You are born deep into the courtly intrigues and intersettlement politics of Gatusan.

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KADUNGGANAN Social Standing

This showcases the social class of your character before they became Kadungganan. Your social standing might have come from your lineage, or it might have come from something that happened after your lineage (ie. a merchant prince that has fallen from grace or accrued too much debt). It is up to you to connect the dots. Choose or roll a d6.

1

Bihag or Chattel. You were the victim of the Eighth Star Era’s burgeoning violence, and have become nothing but wealth to be traded. You begin with nothing.

2

Hayohay or servant. You were indebted or were born into debt of a powerful person, whether it be a famed warrior, merchant, or aristocrat. Your hands are calloused from your work. You begin with a small push dagger.

3

Tuhay or peasant. You were a loyal worker to your communities’ chief. You had your own house within the community, and offered part of your labor to him. You begin with a farming implement.

4

Timawa or Warrior. You were a freeman, working as a warrior for the datu that you have chosen. The datu shares their spoils with you, their fellow warriors, and you earn your own house with your own wealth, though you answer to the datu’s beck and call and sometimes toil for them. Gain a weapon.

5

Tumao or Aristocrat. You were born into richness, into the blood of the datu of your settlement. You are connected to the datu either through blood or social connections, and enjoy the benefits of nobility. You do not toil for the datu but you must pick up arms when called to battle. You have enjoyed the ability to take on multiple arts. You begin with a golden ear ornament.

6

Kedatuan or Royalty. You are directly connected to your settlement’s datu, either the datu is your uncle, grandparent, or parent. You are revered as an Aristocrat, although the expectation for you is much higher. If you are born female then you were treated as a binukot, a veiled maiden, hidden from the rest of the world until you were to be wed to someone your parents decided is fit for their social class. If you are born male you were trained in the arts of war and leadership. You begin with a royal heirloom.

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KADUNGGANAN

Apumbukid Apunon is the term for those that belong to the five holy principalities of the Confederation of Apumbukid. Let us remember where we came from. The words echoed in the minds of the Vwiraya, the warrior-braves of their mountain kingdom. These words echoed even as they descended down their mountain slopes. It was time for a headhunting raid. Today’s targets were easy and important: those peaked helmed and lamellar wearing silk men from the Kingdom of Baik Hu. They have arrived today and traveled deep into Pumirang’s peninsula. Dangerously close to the holy mountain. The Datu, Datu Fikisi, brought his spear and headhunting axe to bear. He was covered in tattoos, each one telling a story of victory, a story of courage and bravery and fury. All these tattoos were imprinted upon him to give him strength this day. The Baik Hu caravan, trespassing upon the holy grounds of Apu, was large, strangely so. As they passed by the mountain road, which was flanked by beautiful blossoming trees of azure and crimson flowers, as well as bamboo, they noticed that guarding both the back and front of the palanquin caravans were men and women wreathed in the kalabaw hide vests and long habay-habay of Virbanwa. “Datu,” said one of Datu Fikisi’s sandig, his right hand man. “The Virbanwans trade with the land defilers.” “This is so,” replied Datu Fikisi. “We have warned the Virbanwan to be careful of the land, but they do not listen. And now they trespass upon sacred ground.” “I suppose,” a woman’s voice this time, lying low, wearing a large rain coat and a helmet adorned with feathers of rainbow birds. “The promise of wealth is too much for them to turn away.” “They will exploit the land,” said Datu Fikisi. “We must stop them.” “But if we attack, surely Virbanwa will strike back!” Said his sandig. “That is of no consequence to us,” replied the Datu. “Remember where we stand. Remember that Virbanwa has already begun its conquest of the land. They must remember who it is that dictates our fate.” His sandig nodded. The woman spoke: “They seem to be heading to the village of Kapkap. The trading city with the other hinterland kingdoms.” “Come then, let us strike as the moon cuts the night.” And so they did, descending down upon the traveling caravan like a lightning flash.

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Stewards of the divine wilds, warrior-priests, and enforcers of hiyang. The Confederation of Apumbukid is a collection of kedatuans that has grown about the Holy Mountain of Apu, the Center Pillar of the World. They are united by Five Elders, known as the Limang Timuay. The Limang Timuay were each granted a shard of Apu Dayaw’s Violence, and therefore are bolstered with divine, righteous might. The people here worship the Holy Mountain Apu, for climbing up to its peak one will arrive at the gates of heaven. Within the Holy Mountain of Apu sleeps the Original Spirit, the one that came into being, defying causation, and caused causation itself: Apu Dayaw.

History Apu Dayaw is said to have been the original creator, sometimes conflated with the Gatusan-Pannai God Malaun, the Eldest One. Apu Dayaw is said to slumber deep within the burning heart of Mount Apu, and it is said that when Apu Dayaw awakes, the world shall end, and a new one shall begin. One of their diwata, a Deity of Law named Kakum, gave them the Code of Rajivithra, a code of law that all people of Apumbukid must abide by. The code has orders for the stewardship of all holy mountains, of protection of Apu, and of the maintaining of Hiyang. Beyond the 5 Kedatuan that surround the mountain of Apu, the Confederation of Apumbukid has begun setting up their own Kedatuan all across the Archipelago. These Kedatuan swear no fealty but to nature, and will not back down from fighting with other polities to maintain their sovereignty and stewardship. This necessitates a certain degree of oneness with nature, and from them comes the enlightenment of Hiyang, the truth of oneness with nature. The truth that Nature is all there is, and all things cycle back to nature. By achieving true Hiyang, one becomes Naghiyang: a being that is one with all things, all universes, all worlds: great Alam, embodying all its forces, its death and its life, its fires and waters and airs and earths.

KADUNGGANAN Tradition Confederation clothing varies, but they are well known across the isles for their bright red textiles, which have since become known as Apula, or, Elder Crimson, and it is a more holy red than what most of the other tawo of the isles wear. Confederation clothing are intensely pragmatic and rugged: their fashion is meant to serve their stewardship, after all. Very commonly, many Confederation nobles would wear giant flowers as hats and collars, butterfly wings as ceremonial sarong, and the greatest warriors sometimes would wear the bright crimson chitin of giant centipedes. However, this fashion is strictly ceremonial and meant for times of peace: it is sacrilege to wear it into violence. The Confederation annually congregates, at the end of every harvest, in the grand feast known as the Feast of Sanghiyang, which is usually sponsored by one of the Limang Timuway. There they embody, worship, and exalt nature, but also create trade connections, resolve petty wars, create new architectures, trade ideas, and even bind kingdoms together if an argument or conversation can lead to it. The Confederation, therefore, is in both constant trade and constant war with the other polities, as they have access to much resources and valuable goods necessary for international trade with overseas kingdoms. In accordance to the tenets of Hiyang, Confederation raids are less likely to take captives, killing those they raid and taking heads and wealth as dictated to them by Iwagaro, to lessen the likelihood of war, as war is anathema to the diwata. However, the Confederation can still take war captives, usually when the manual labor is needed in their settlements or when the spirits tell them to during the pre-raid rituals.

Apumbukid settlements, scattered across the archipelago, are built upon stone and bamboo in the plains, cliffs, mountains, bays, and even caves that the rest of the polities dare not to explore. Here they create vast complexes and subterranean empires, guided by the gentle hand of the diwata and umalagad, the spirits of nature, of stone and rock and wood and earth and air and sky. Apumbukid has the strongest of relations with the other guardians of the holy mountains, with Vuyu to the far south, the Ibalong to the southwest, the Pannai to the to the Southeast, and Sritaluk to the north. They have Root Paths so open to each other that while Apumbukid may be the most influential among them, they have been most influenced by those Polities. Trade and friendship with Vuyu has allowed them to learn the Warsage’s ways and the skill of the Tigpana from Ibalnong. Their relationship has helped them grow stronger and stronger, and no doubt the Confederation will be first to aid these mountain stewards when the time comes. The Confederation of five Kedatuan of Apumbukid was tied together in two vectors: through the great God of the Holy Mountain Apu—the center of the world—from whom they are descended from, and their shared responsibility of being stewards of Hiyang, harmony with nature. This harmony has been broken, and the constant war and atrocities have only widened this rend. They have taken upon themselves a proactive approach to their stewardship, stopping atrocities from happening and fending off those that would cause disharmony. They believe in the guardian spirit Iwa-garo, who protects them during their raids. Iwa-garo is known as the First Steward, and he is one of the six Katulusan that provide stewardship over all nature.

Apunon live in vast dragon houses, and practice the Naga geomancies, following it to properly create houses with good luck, as well as using the movement of the Naga in the sky to divine the future.

These Katulusan are revered and worshipped across the five principalities: Iwa-garo, the Beast Hunter; Garahana the Watcher; Irigi, the Pillar; Bahdiyatol, the Deliverer; Karadiya, the Soother; Kidab, the Hexer.

Meanwhile they are in need of the many goods from the shore settlements. Thus it is a symbiotic relationship, although a very frail one, like a loose thread that has been fraying for far too long. What will happen of this relationship is unknown to all.

The honorific Apu for males and Akbaye for females are used when deference is required.

In the Eighth Star Era, Apumbukid has taken a more aggressive approach in their Stewardship. Using their intimacy with the spirits of the land, they make use of Root Paths that let them travel across The Sword Isles without sailing. Thus they have begun to expand, to try and take back the last remaining sanctums of nature. Before it is lost forever. There is a Root Path in most major cities, particularly in Ananara, Jambangan, Kangdaya, and Ba-e. These Root Paths were instrumental to victory during the Lakanate Conspiracy, but of course, Virbanwa has chosen to leave that out of their history texts.

Aristocrats in the Confederation are known as Mafengal, warrior braves who have validated their positions as either spiritual leaders or those that could protect their own settlements. These Vwiraya excelled in conflict, whether it be spiritual, social, or physical. Mafengal aristocrats would band together with other warriors and settle disputes with other settlements within the island of Pumirang. They are very much like the nobles of the other polities, with the difference that they are expected to have a higher harmony with nature than others. Resources are abundant in Confederation settlements, so they not only wear gold all the time, but they even plate their teeth with it. The Freedmen among the Confederation are given a special spiritual warrior title known as Vwiraya. These are the Confederation’s Kadungganan, who go out on revenge raids and trade raids. They protect their entire settlement, and that is their prime purpose: to protect and enact vengeance, not to wage war.

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KADUNGGANAN Noteworthy Persons

Other Culture Impressions

Ang Limang Timway. The Five Elders of the Confederation are as follows. They all have a primary principle and duty, in addition to their secondary duty below, which is to steward over the mountain of Apu, and to keep it from harm. They have taken a more aggressive approach lately, making sure that almost every hinterland is protected from the advancing forces of the expanding polities.

To Virbanwa: Forgive us. Blame yourself or your God.

0 Timway Surugu, the Antlered Elder of Ministry. She is the Datu of the Kedatuan of Niyawa, to the north of Apu, wherein they train folk to become shamans and priests, and in recent times, monks to Apu Dayaw’s mountain-temples. 0 Timway Tabo’owan, the Diwata-Blooded Elder of Spirituality. He is the Datu of the Kedatuan of Samring, to the West of Apu, which trains blacksmiths, sages, sorcerers and teachers. 0 Timway Pagariwara, the Meek and Calm Elder of Violence. She is the Datu of the Kedatuan of Taraboko, to the Southwest of Apu, which trains warriors and warlords. 0 Timway Diwangga, the Lithe and Covert Elder of Secrets. He is the Datu of the Kedatuan of Rahasiyan, to the East of Apu, which trains travelers and assassins. 0 Timway Koyayaw, the jovial Elder of Trade. He is the Datu of the Kedatuan of Barahanda, to the Southeast of Apu, upon the shores of Pumirang, which trains merchant princes and diplomats.

To Ba-e: To the river of violence we succumb, with its judgment swift and final. It bite as cold as steel. There is enough time for regret in hell. To Gatusan: Why do you fight? Why do you split the seas? Fight for something greater than you. Only then will you fear no reproach. Only then shall you be more than just man. To Akai: Stay your blade. The sword that destroys can never overcome the sword that protects. Apumbukid Honorifics: Aplake [ap-la-KEH] (Masculine), Akbaye [ak-BA-yeh] (Feminine) Apumbukid Naming Conventions: Similar to the Rajahnate’s, although the individual choosing a name for themselves after their first conquest in love or war is common. Apumbukidnon Names: Felindag, Metegdaw, Asi, Atulun, Dengeg, Dagit, Fuga, Apaw, Kilut, Anyag, Abbal, Bansag, Buni-Buni, Darudu, Hifara, Tangu, Tobok, Mayasi, Baguybuy, Yomog, Fatu As an Apumbukidnon keep in mind...

Sekul. Sekul is a renowned vwiraya who travels the Root Paths to weed out places of atrocities to prevent yawa from arising before they have the chance. This has caused her to come head-to-head with a large number of Kadungganan, who usually had an opposing goal against hers.

0 You are well acquainted with the movements and breaths of harmony.

All she wants is the land’s purification and harmony, so that future generations of her Kedatuan Rahasiyan will not have to suffer the training to become travelers and assassins.

0 Reprimand those that defile nature.

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0 Corrective action must be followed to heal harmony. 0 The spirits prefer the cold, unsalted, and quiet. 0 Scrutinize disharmony. As an Apumbukidnon you begin with two: A rattan rain cape, a fishing rod, a sash of gold worn across the torso, an abaca fiber bag, a broad-rimmed hat (salakot), a sword with a shattered blade, spectacles from foreign nations, a walking stick, a magenta cloak, a pouch of tea leaves, a golden balance hanging around your neck, a push dagger (balaraw), a waist sash of gold, incense sticks, three jarlets

KADUNGGANAN Subculture 1

There are eight primary Subcultures of the Apunon. Choose 1 or roll a d8.

Niyawa. You come from the great Niyawa, the city of strangler fig worship houses, where those that wish are taught in the arts of spirituality and how to achieve Conjunction. The river of Niya runs through it, coming from the cleansing falls that fall from Apu itself. You understand Niyawanun and begin with a textile cloak.

2

Samring. You come from grand Samring, principality of Sages, created with five sides to create perpetual Conjunction, those who seek knowledge and teach it to create a better world. They create blacksmiths and administrators, and teach those in the arts of necessary leadership, to lead the world to a place that doesn’t need it. You can speak Samringnun and begin with palm leaf scrolls.

3

Pagariwara. You come from majestic Pagariwara, the principality of warlords, where giant spears stake the earth, as if the gods pierced demons deep within the lands. Pagariwaranun achieve Conjunction by perfecting violence so that the violence inflicted is only necessary and not excessive. You can speak Pagariwaranun and begin with a ceremonial kampilan.

4

Diwangga. You come from ancient Diwangga, once the border of all things, the greater extremities, the nexus of all paths that eventually lead to Apu. Here those willing are taught in the ways of connection, of unity, of concordance. They achieve Conjunction by creating connections between those that would otherwise be enemies. They shall unite the world. You can speak Diwangganun and begin with a dragonfly necklace.

5

Usambangsa. You come from Usambangsa. This Kedatuan sits upon Apu itself. Upon the Central Pillar of the World. The city itself is actually mostly empty, but kept spotlessly clean by attendant spirits and a population of 5,000 mortal tawo, who provide stewardship and cleaning. In the middle of it is a great black stone that looks as if the god Apu Dayaw struck the mountain with an obsidian spear. It is said that the stone leads to the sleeping place of Apumbukid himself, a grand city of glittering crystal within The Sword Isles. It is said that They will rise only when The Sword Isles need Them the most. You can speak Usambangsanun and begin with an obsidian knife.

6

Nerakihon. You come from Nerakihon. The settlement of Nerakihon is a large village surrounding a single tree that grows atop the Berumer Mountain. The tree, known as Punung-Neraka, has a hole upon its gigantic trunk that, when entered, sends you plummeting deep into its root systems. Villagers say it sends you straight to Nerak, hell, and that every once in a while a busaw bursts out from the trunk. The villagers have thus created a special force of demon slayers just to protect Nerakihon--and the rest of The Sword Isles-from the assaults of the otherworlds. You can speak Nerakihonon and begin with a spiritsilk shawl.

7

Sanggasanggsa. You come from Sanggasangga, a warrior city-state. It is a city-state to the furthest west of The Sword Isles, by the base of the mountain of Pinukal. Here, everyone is trained from birth to become a Sentinel against the evil creatures from beyond the mountain barriers, known as the magalo, fae-demons from the Forests Beyond the World. Warriors here are trained to be magalo hunters, with the intent of protecting nature and defeating the unnatural. Everyone in Sanggasangga knows full well their responsibility, and carry the burden with pride, always consorting with spirits of the forest, their own guardian spirits, and spirits of war to make sure The Sword Isles is safe. But the tides have become stronger.... You can speak Sanggasangganun and begin with an ironwood kalasag.

8

Lawahun. You come from Lawahun, the village of frost. A village by the mountain of Wahang, where the Sage of the Mountains lives. The bone-biting cold here requires the warming magics of the Sage. Upon Lawahun, you consort with the wind spirits of the moon, and live side-by-side with ice spirits, surviving and dealing with snow and ice. They engage in ritual headhunting with the state of Vuyu. You can speak Lawahunun and begin with a spear of ice.

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KADUNGGANAN Lineage Roll a d8 or choose from the following lineages. 1

Ritualist Parents. Your parents were those that attended and joined and performed ritual killing, whether in revenge or to appease the gods. You have been taught this graceful responsibility, and you must never let it fall into the wrong hands.

2

Makinaadmanon Heritage. Your parents were Makinaadmanon, the Peerless Sages who chose to teach the ways of Achieving Conjunction instead of transcending the world itself and becoming One with All. They are gone now, but they have left some invaluable insights to you about Ang Hiyang, the divine law of the world.

3

Feast Patrons. Your parents are wealthy patrons of feasts, most likely aristocrats. You’ve enjoyed traveling to a great number of settlements to set up feasts, and you’ve met a large number of people due to it. You have been taught to be kind, always.

4

Servitude. You come from a family of servants, who serve a noble warrior who treats your family well. You were in essence that warrior’s squire, carrying their armor and doing their chores. Gain +1 to your Toughness. You cannot begin as an Aristocrat.

5

Elder Balyan. Your parents were the elder balyan, usually called Katuuran, of your settlement, and they provided guidance in the midst of the chaotic dance of nature, war, and spirituality. You’ve grown up close to the spiritfolk all your life.

6

Deep Forest Diwata. You have the blood of diwata, actually. Your parent was a forest guardian. It shows in your eyes, in your mortal form. What peers through? You have never met your parents but they speak to you in your dreams. There’s a destiny you need to fulfill.

7

Outcast. You were an outcast, even in your own settlement. However, the folk of various Apumbukid settlements have always taken care of you and provided you some shelter, even if you travel from settlement to settlement trying to find out who you really are and where you’re from.

8

Warrior Braves. Your parents were warrior braves who sought to protect the various folks of the Kalanawan region. You are heir to a proud lineage, one who understands the role of violence, and so you have been taught this same very thing. Your family was well respected in your settlement.

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KADUNGGANAN Social Standing

This showcases the social class of your character before they became Kadungganan. Your social standing might have come from your lineage, or it might have come from something that happened after your lineage (ie. a merchant prince that has fallen from grace or accrued too much debt). It is up to you to connect the dots. Choose or roll a d6: 1

Bihag or Chattel. You were the victim of the Eighth Star Era’s burgeoning violence, and have become nothing but wealth to be traded. You begin with nothing.

2

Bayang or servant. You were indebted or were born into debt of a powerful person, whether it be a famed warrior, merchant, or aristocrat. Your hands are calloused from your work. You begin with a small push dagger.

3

Nugkat or peasant. You were a loyal worker to your communities’ chief. You had your own house within the community, and offered part of your labor to him. You begin with a farming implement.

4

Kalita-o or Warrior. You were a freeman, working as a warrior for the datu that you have chosen. The datu shares their spoils with you, their fellow warriors, and you earn your own house with your own wealth, though you answer to the datu’s beck and call and sometimes toil for them. Gain a weapon.

5

Mafengal or Aristocrat. You were born into richness, into the blood of the datu of your settlement. You are connected to the datu either through blood or social connections, and enjoy the benefits of nobility. You do not toil for the datu but you must pick up arms when called to battle. You have enjoyed the ability to take on multiple arts. Mafengel very commonly use giant flowers, foliage, insect parts, and such as prestigious regaila. You begin with a giant flower petal cloak.

6

Datu or Royalty. You are directly connected to your settlement’s datu, either the datu is your uncle, grandparent, or parent. You are revered as an Aristocrat, although the expectation for you is much higher. If you are born female then you were treated as a binukot, a veiled maiden, hidden from the rest of the world until you were to be wed to someone your parents decided is fit for their social class. If you are born male you were trained in the arts of war and leadership. You begin with a royal heirloom.

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KADUNGGANAN

Akai

The war gongs sounded. Our armies assembled. On one side, under the blazing crimson banner of Sultana Yarashgara XII, the Omniscient King, chosen by Baginda Sumongsuklay herself, we stood. In front of the flattened plain, facing the sea. We prepared our lantakas, our arquebusiers raised their guns, our longbowmen raised their bamboo bows the length of their bodies. Our frontmen raised their kampilan and kris and sundang, beating them against their kalasag. Our cavalry rode upon water buffaloes and elephants, wielding arquebuses and spears. We were ready to take them on, and we will bring them down. Off to the distance, like a black blade sweeping in from the horizon, sailed the bastard forces of the wicked sea king, Radya Gaputan. He declared himself true sultan and declared war upon us last moon, and now he comes with the full force of his fleet. My Beloved Sultana walked up beside me. I lowered my head to her, the golden threads of my sarok creating a soft rustling symphony. “Parawali,” she said. “Report.” She was garbed in the full ensemble of war god armor: elephant hide breastplate and steel armor from head to toe, a helmet fashioned to make her look like the dragon that eats the moon, and a kiwo-kiwo kris that was larger than any other. Around her armor she wore a colorful textile sarong of white, pink, and crimson, which flowed to her feet. “Beloved Sultana,” I said, and I pulled out the bamboo scroll from my sleeve. “Radya Gaputan comes in with a force that is seven times stronger than our land army.” “But our army is all supremely trained,” replied my Beloved Sultana. “And they are nothing but mercenaries and horohan.” “It may be so, but their superior numbers leave us at a disadvantage.” Sultana Yarashgara XII nodded, and then said, “Did my friend Datu Kumusuli reply?” I smiled. “They did, oh Valued One.” “And? What was their reply?” The war horns began then. The agung quickened. The entire army began screaming in rage and defiance against the wretched horde of Radya Gaputan. On top of the hill we stood upon, overlooking the shore, the great Paraawit sang her greatest song. The Neverending War of the Sultanate. She sang of all the great battles the sultanate has fought, will fight, and will ever fight, and told of how they were victorious above them all. And as the war gongs clashed and the war horns bellowed, a fleet of colorful sails came in from both sides of the horizon, as if rushing to meet the incoming horde. A multitude, like fire encroaching upon oil. “They said that they remain faithful to you, Sultana, the Conquerer of this Earth, the Render of Heaven, the Omniscient Queen.”

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The Beloved Sultana nodded and smiled. “Good answer.” And she raised her giant kris, and lightning struck it, and she flared like a god.

History The Akai Sultanate was established a hundred years during the ending of the Seventh Sun Era. Jaris Akai arrived in the island of Siga upon a vast metal vase. Then, he found and married a princess of one of the local settlements. Through that he, bred a powerful line of ten sons, who eventually became the Ten Datu that ruled over the ten regions of the region that surrounded Siga, the island whereupon the holy capital of the Sultanate was to be born. Then, Jaris Akai conquered and subsumed the native peoples blessing them and granting them the title of Datu, while he himself became their grand emperor. Jaris Akai brought the island of Siga and the surrounding islands to heel. Jaris Akai, also known as Maharajah Akai, faced down a rebellion from the Ten Rajahnates of his sons, which he managed to win after the arrival of Sihkandag, the Warrior-Priestess of Baginda Sumongsuklay. Through her counsel, medicine, and sorceries, Jaris Akai brought his sons to line, and then eventually established the Sultanate. Soon after, the Sultanate adopted the Moon Faith, Bulanan, as a state religion. As more pandita wisefolk came in and taught the religion, more culture (both social and material) was brought into the ten islands. They crafted powerful weapons and learned great techniques which he taught to his ten sons. Upon his ten sons, he conquered the island of Siga and the surrounding islands, a portion of the islands of Simipatra, and the coasts of Kalanawan. His reign only ended due to the quarreling and politicking of his ten Sons, who bickered and warred, fighting for inheritance of the Throne. Eventually Jaris Akai perished, and in mourning, the Isles of Siga and the coastal shores of Kalawanan erupted into the Ten Datu War. Ten of his greatest sons, Fire and Storm Kings, warriors of the current, echoes in the forest. The winner Yarashgara I, who was not the eldest but the one destined to be the leader among the Ten Datus, as spoken by esteemed pandita Saka Iskandr. And thus it was so, and the rest of the ten cities and states paid fealty to him, for he and his line became the inheritors of the Lunar Throne. The Akai Sultanate believes in what they call Bulanan. It is the faith that the Moon Goddess Baginda Sumongsuklay created the islands after warring with the sun, and became the Resplendent Night Queen that held sway over both night and day. Everything they do is in service to the Goddess, the highest principle, the Most High, the Ancient of Ancients.

KADUNGGANAN Baginda Sumongsuklay was privy to power over the most powerful realm in the world: the Sea, and the Sultanate became peerless sea raiders and warriors thanks to their blessing from Baginda Sumongsuklay. They have created Lunar Temples for her in spiritually powerful places. All diwata pay fealty to her, the greatest of the diwata. As of present day, the Ten Datu and the Sultana still have a convocation at every Full Moon for feasting and trading and speaking and organizing new ventures, as well as other diplomatic political inventions. Lately they have been preparing, as the Lakanate of Virbanwa readies their armies and recruits from their villages. The Akai Sultanate will not bow. It launches its own conquest to spread the word of Prophet Ayah Menat and establish extensive trading relations to further their understanding of the known world.

Tradition The Sultana sits within her Grand Lunar Palace: the largest structure in The Sword Isles: a massive 100-roofed palace that meets the moon when it is at its fullest, expanded into a sacred square, with hundreds of annexes connected by stone halls made of moonstone. It is all at once a holy offering to Baginda Sumongsuklay, and a housing for one of the most powerful people in the Sword Isles. The Sultanate of Akai is one of the most powerful polities across the Sword Isles: the seat of power is placed within the grand city of Siga, in the midst of the Footsteps of the Gods, the archipelago once said to have been created by a Parade of Gods who traveled from Pumirang, the birthplace of all divinity, towards the rest of the continents. As the premiere Sultanate, with only primary rivals in Sonyoh, Naksuwarga, and Barungsai, the Akai Sultanate rules most of the Footsteps of the Gods archipelago, dominating northern Sword Isles, spreading Bulanan far and wide. Various petty kingdoms and chiefdoms go under Akai’s servitude willingly to benefit from both the protection and the trade connections of the Sultanate, which stretches to Baik Hu, to all the way to Auraska, Varsha, and even the Azur Caliphates. Chivalrous, regal, and romantic, the Sultanate of Akai prides itself in the beauty of its monuments, its temples, and picaresque sites in their island and the extent of their mandala into the island of Kalanawan. Akai holds a code of chivalry, and follows their Sultan as others would follow their king. They are intensely loyal, and engage in the romantic aspects of life, whether it be in art or in song. Akainon live in divine striving, and in their striving, they seek to expand their mandala to bring all under the holy light of the Moon, creating a great Empire for their Baginda Sumongsuklay, their Supreme Moon Goddess. Tawo from the Sultanate are exposed to vast trade with Naksuwarga and Baik Hu. They have access to inscriptions and culture from other parts of the world through this trade. This has caused many of the Sultanate tawo to be exceedingly diverse culturally. Among the Nobles, they share much in common with the Akai as well. Especially rich folk that do not have noble blood, the orangkaya, are known to have their own little society within Akai, and in some cases influence the

decisions of the Datu. Many epics and songs and poetry has been born due to the constant adventuring of nobles. Akai Warriors are known as Satariya, but Sultanate Kadungganan are called hulubalang, peerless warriors. They fight not only for their Datu, but also for the Sultanate. When the Final Wars come, or when the Sultana seeks for them, they will ride with their Datu to the Sultana’s side, and they will reach heaven through violence. The most faithful of warriors gird themselves for battle: they wrap themselves when performing Holy War with the trappings of those to be buried: anointed with oil, shaved, and invested with white garments. They will bring as many as they can with them, and in their death, they will reach heaven.

The Divine Striving The tawo of Akai embody and internalize the most important pillar of their Bulanan: the Divine Striving. There are four Divine Strivings: 0 The Striving to Holiness, which is their striving to overcome the lower self, perfect their bodies, and reach communion with the Moon by following the tenets of Bulanan. 0 The Striving to the Sword, which is their striving to perfect their martial prowess to protect what is theirs and other blasphemers, and to glory in fighting as a means of worship. 0 The Striving to Purification, which is their striving to cleanse the land of evil and darkness, injustice, oppression and the works of the Malaikat demons. 0 The Striving to Truth, which is their striving to achieve truthfulness and to spread the knowledge of the Baginda.

Noteworthy Persons Sultana Yarashgara XII. Yarashgara, descended of Jaris Akai, the twelfth of her name, the Omniscient Queen, unto whom songs of crocodile-slaying and island-rending are sung about. She is known as the Thunderous Conqueror, the Ever-Swallowing Current. Born to the royal family, she proved her worth as the heir to the throne, and sought to capitalize on her father’s mistakes by expanding Akai ever forward. Yarashgara is a well-versed in the teachings of Bulanan, counseled by twelve pandita--both local and foreign--and served a tour of duty as a knight-warlord for her late father before taking the throne. Thus, the Omniscient Queen is intimate with her subjects, and the Sultana knows that they are primed for expansion. Their goal is to conquer all of The Sword Isles first, and then Sonyoh, and then the rest of Naksuwarga. She aims to become a force strong enough to rival even Baik Hu. She keeps her wits about her, however, for they know treachery and betrayal whirls at every current. Upon her throne in the Lunar Palace, she sits upon a stone dais that is made of the bones of a great moon-eating serpent, the Bakunawa Throne. She sits upon it with legs folded, wearing a great pudong that does not fall, but rather, is attracted to the sky, so it falls upwards always, creating a spiralling crown unrivalled. It and the rest of her garments--a lambung so long that it

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KADUNGGANAN can cover her in three-layers and still be long enough to cover the entirety of the Bakunawa Throne, a shawl that can double as elongated arms and can wield weapons, and a silken pillow that lets her fly anywhere--is made of moonsilver-silk. Moonsilver-silk can be found nowhere else in the world but upon the Sultana, who commissioned it from a thousand of the Sultanate’s best weavers. The silk itself can only be retrieved from the wings of angels who live upon the mon. The Sultana’s sword is a crescent scimitar, the Bulan Sansibar, that when used at its full power can cut entire mountains. She has no need for a shield. To this day, the Sultana has 78 Heirs: the 78 Lunar Princes, called Prince despite their true gender. They are warring for the Sultana’s affection and acknowledgment so that they can become the true Heir to the throne, the next maharajah, the next Sultan. Pangiran Seri Rida. The elder brother of Yarashgara XII. He is incensed. Although working as a Mahalaksamana, or Grand Admiral, of the Akai Fleet, he connives and plans. He believes that he is the true heir to the Throne, despite not being the eldest son. Despite this, he chooses not to recognize Yarashgara, who was born Ilasun, as the current Sultana. Even now, he amasses forces, not just from Akai Kedatuan, but from Dagindara and Sritaluk as well, even going so far as asking help from far cousins that live in Gatusan. A full scale war is ready to erupt, with Pangiran Seri Rida at its prow. All he needs is for Yarashgara to slip up. Pandita Mana. A wise and widely respected pandita. He is a heavily bearded man, wearing a turban-like pudong, and a heavy kampilan that is more for ritual use than combat. He uses sorceries learned from the Sacred Land to the Southeast, which lets him manipulate light and shadow itself with a single mentala. He travels the land as a scholar and spreader of the word of Baginda Sumongsuklay, making sure that all beings can accept her ever-gleaming brightness. He seeks to turn all of The Sword Isles to the truth of Bulanan, to push them to a new age of enlightenment. To that end, he travels, paying boat-owners and merchants alike to ride upon their vessels, to travel as far as his eye can see.

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He grants those that he preaches to help, in the form of healing or herbal remedies. Other Culture Impressions To Virbanwa: What we will do to your kingdom is the reason why the Moon goes hunting. To Gatusan: Wild, pure, and forever free! We would happily include them into the ranks of our vassals, but their blades are sharp and their tongues even sharper. To live by the blade is to die by the blade, of course, and they shall find hell from ours. To Apumbukid: They have not the strength to repel us. Had we the effort and will, the Holy Mountain would have become our ladder to the Holy City on the Moon, and they will have become our brothers in our Divine Striving. To Ba-e: Aloft upon their elder dais, yet they have persisted through cycles of violence. Does it grieve them to see the depths of their own weakness laid bare? Akai Honorifics: Tuan [too-WAN] (General) Akai Naming Convention: Akai names are often a single or two words. They share many names with the Rajahnate and with Naksuwarga. Akainon Names: Asip, Sandayli, Sumandak, Hamba, Buddiman, Akal, Layu, Saliha, Salimin, Maputra, Patima, Bahira, Sawira, Muhaddi, Hinda Hanman, Manalum, Gura, Gumantung, Aliya, Angkala, Hakim, Pakrud, Aisha, Idda As an Akainon, keep in mind... 0 You must point out the beauty of a situation. 0 Keep things that must be secret secret. 0 Revel in the striving that must be inflicted for Goddess. 0 Aim always to exalt Goddess. 0 Every thing is a physical reminder of the Goddess’ greatness. As an Akainon, you begin with two: a grand silk headdress, a ceremonial kris, gold flower ear ornaments, a phoenixheaded bottle, a silk jacket, wooden sandals, a ring with a carnelian, a black and white shawl, a ceremonial kampilan, a crimson headdress, a golden diadem, a colorful sarong, a broken shield, garuda ear ornaments, a Kilin vessel, a kinnari lamp

KADUNGGANAN Subculture

5

Barungsai. Another ancient polity that once warred continuously with Naksuwarga. Naksuwarga once conquered Barungsai and massacred its ruling family, but has since been able to free itself from Naksuwarga’s clutches. They practice a mix of indigenous Barungsaian religion known as Jiwajiwa (literally, Lives) and Ashinin religion, and so they are composed of regal and royal heritage. From them comes the story of Hari Binalo and Hara Harmangga, the King Guardian Spirit and the Demon Witch Queen. Barungsai is intimately close with nature, and they write their scriptures upon stone monoliths, which are then carved away to become the many gods that they worship, a form of revelatory scripture. If you come from Barungsai, you can speak Barunga and carry around a jasmine wreath that never wilts, a symbol of Jiwajiwa.

6

Kirir. Kirir is another site of ancient land that is home to the Aasama, the People of the Waters, who worship (alongside Baginda Sumongsuklay) the ancient Goddess Dewigansa (literally, Goose Goddess) who embodies their Sea and Sky duality. The people of Kiri live in either stilt houses built on the sides of cliffs or far off from shores. They can hold their breath far longer than other cultures can, and Kirir has a special mother pearl that is also the egg for the next Lokapala Naga, who is supposed to guard the world from the dangers of the Chaos that surrounds the Cosmos. If you come from Kirir, you can speak Kirirnun and begin with pearl bracelets and anklets.

7

Luwas. Luwas is a modern settlement founded after Sultan Yarashgara XI, the one before the Sultana, walked down the Footsteps of the Gods and found a place of rest within Luwas, which was beautiful and had vast prawling flowerbeds before its mountain. Luwas was turned into a veritable paradise, with elephants and tigers from Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows, lions from the jungles deep of Naksuwarga, and all kinds of orchids and jasmines from every portion of the Sword Isles. Yarahsgara XI’s corpse is said to be mummified here, within an ancient tomb within a cave upon the base of Mount Luwas. It is rumored that Yarahsgara XI converted to Annuvaran right before his death. If you come from the beautiful naturalistic settlements of Luwas, you can speak Luwanon and begin with petal swords and thorn daggers.

8

Jambangan. The Land of Flowers. The holy city-state in the middle of the Sultanate’s jurisdiction. It is large enough to cover all of the island of Siga, where it is situated. In the middle of the archipelago is a holy pyramid to the Moon Goddess Baginda Sumongsuklay, which they call the Holy Lunar Temple. Beside it is the Grand Lunar Palace Kota, where the current Omniscient Queen Sultana: Yarashgara XII, lives along with her closest relatives and servants. The Palace Fortress is impregnable.

There are eight primary Subcultures of the Apunon. Choose 1 or roll a d8. 1

The Holy Kedatuan of Harigii. Called solely because of the ancient holy temple built upon a high mountain by the first few preachers and apostles of the Moon Goddess, and was where the First Teacher, Indra Guro, died and was buried. The Holy Temple has since withered away to the elements, as it was built on bamboo, save for the four pillars that it was built upon, which never wilt away. When a person cut the pillar to examine it, the part that was cut immediately withered and aged. Many people that live in Harigii grow up to become priests, scholars, and monks for the Moon faith. Harigii has since become the pilgrimage site for all Bulanists. The current Datu of Harigii is a once-pandita preacher named Datu Dahit Sabad. You can speak Harigiinon and begin with a holy ritual spear.

2

Pasara. The capital of the island of Ulahina, the crown jewel of the Sultanate, ruled by the Datu Gaddung KiraKira, who is a peerless blacksmith and a loyal vassal to Yarashgara. Pasara is an entry city that leads into verdant forests, jade statues overgrown now by trees, and clear streams that flow out of the mountain. The mountain upon which Pasara lies at the base of Mount Sithi, is said to be the home of the Diwata Sithi, Goddess of Tears and Love, and it is said that the two rivers that stream down on both sides of the mountain are her tears. Most people that live here are known to be excellent entertainers and performers, creating an extravagant economy for tourists and travelers from all across The Sword Isles and the greater world. You can speak Pasaranun and begin with a saffron shawl.

3

Yikapu. A polity ruled by the current Mahapanglima, or Grand General, Jamrud Wanni. Yikapu is situated on a small island south of Jambangan, and it is protected by moonstone fortresses and star-bamboo towers. Here the superior military force of Akai is both trained, stationed, and launched. The satariya trained here are taught how to use lantaka, cannons used for war, powered by strange busalian sorceries, as well as how to use their soul to fight back against the beguiling enchantments of both god and witch. You can speak Yikapunun and begin brass plate armor.

4

Naksuwarga. An ancient polity that once stretched its influence across Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows, that region of the isles that are fraught with warring even with the Continent. Naksuwarga was principally invaded by the ancient Mahajola, which spread Annuvaran thought and religion into its shores, which then expanded to the rest of The Sword Isles through missionaries and traders. Now Akai has claimed it for its own, but its kings, called Rakan, are powerful and refuse to be cowed, and pray upon their more ancient gods to eventually fight back against Akai. If you come from Naksuwarga, you can speak Nak-an and carry around a necklace of small gods.

Workers, debtors, and warriors live in swathes of neighborhoods. Siga thus faces war from all sides, but it is fiercely defended by loyal datu and satariya, as well as strong stone fortifications. You begin with city clothing (trousers, silk jacket, headwrap) and a bronze mirror.

163

KADUNGGANAN Lineage

Roll a d8 or choose from the following lineages. 1

Esteemed General. One of your parents is an esteemed warlord, perhaps a datu on their own? Or just a general chosen by the Sultana herself. Whatever it may be, you were born into the shadows of your general parent, whose stories were sung far and wide across the Footsteps of the Gods. Will you ever live up to their name? They trained you when you were a child, but it was one of hardship and pain.

2

Warrior Heroes. You come from a long line of warrior heroes, famous across the Footsteps of the Gods and maybe even the entirety of the Sword Isles. You have not been trained in their paths, though: you were left to this legacy on your own. You have a mentor, perhaps, but you have to live up to the legacy on your own terms. Can you do it?

3

Feared Witches. Your ancestors were witches that channeled demons in the deep forests to wage war against the spirits of good, who upheld the status quo of violence. Until now you fight and fight, and perfect sorceries. Or perhaps you were not in conjunction with sorcery? It weighs on you anyway.

4

Missionaries. Your lineage is a lineage of Missionaries from the Lunar Faith, who have probably come from the Southeastern Continent. Therefore, you were brought up with a supreme and almost penetrating knowledge of the Lunar Faith, and this has colored every part of your life. You know the genealogies (the tarsilas), the stories and myths of the angels, the secrets of the Lunar Palace, and the vast ideologies and expanses of time that colored the travels of the First Prophet.

5

Foreign Arrival. Your lineage comes from outside the Sword Isles in general. Akai is strategically positioned near the center of the world (Akainon would have you believe that it is the center of the world) so a lot of trade goes through Akai. Thus, large swathes of foreigners, usually merchants, have arrived from foreign shores. What do you look like? It doesn’t matter, really. You’re Akainon, now. Your appearance does catch the eye.

6

Lunar Sorcerers. You come from a long line–perhaps an entire settlement even–of sorcerers that practiced Lunar Sorcery–that is, magic using the strength and power of the moon, rather than the land or through their own Gahum. This makes any sorcery or martial art they practice colored and embellished with marks of the moon: crescents, flowers, butteflies, stars, white discs. Your connection to the moon grounds you, paradoxically, to knowing what is truly an illusion and what is truly real.

7

Horse Tamer. You come from a long line of horse tamers that travel far and wide and range across the isles upon horses. Sword Isle horses are good for both riding and as pack animals, so they are a common sight. Especially in Kalanawan, where the fields are long. As a horse tamer, you have an inherent connection with the grand horses of Siga.

8

Lunate Knight. These were faithful vassals and knights of the Sultana herself, not just conscripts created to make a standing army. They answer to nobody but the Sultana, and thus they enjoy the benefits of being a vassal to the Sultana bring: their own royal compound in Jambangan’s vast flower rivers, part of weapons and spoils from grand lunar conquests, and the ability to partake in the Sultana’s table when they feast. More importantly, they could marry any of the nobility in Jambangan and raise their own stature, and secure their descendant’s future. It was a profession that many longed for, especially in the bloodthirsty Sword Isles.

164

KADUNGGANAN Social Standing

This showcases the social class of your character before they became Kadungganan. Your social standing might have come from your lineage, or it might have come from something that happened after your lineage (ie. a merchant prince that has fallen from grace or accrued too much debt). It is up to you to connect the dots. Choose or roll a d8: 1

Bihag or Chattel. You were the victim of the Eighth Star Era’s burgeoning violence, and have become nothing but wealth to be traded. You begin with nothing. High chance of you being a sina foreigner.

2

Ipun or servant. You were indebted or were born into debt of a powerful person, whether it be a famed warrior, merchant, or aristocrat. Your hands are calloused from your work. You begin with a small push dagger.

3

Kiapangdilihan or peasant. You were a loyal worker to your communities’ chief. You had your own house within the community, and offered part of your labor to him. You begin with a farming implement.

4

Satariya or Warrior. You were a freeman, working as a warrior for the datu that you have chosen. The datu shares their spoils with you, their fellow warriors, and you earn your own house with your own wealth, though you answer to the datu’s beck and call and sometimes toil for them. Gain a weapon.

5

Orangkaya or Merchant Lord. Those materially wealthy, constituting a secondary class of nobles who are not noble by blood, but by wealth. They live their lives as freemen, going from town to town either selling their wares, setting up food booths where they sell their food, or offer other services, such as hunting, cleaning, warring, and smithing. Gain a piece of treasure.

6

Tuwan or Aristocrat. You were born into richness, into the blood of the datu of your settlement. You are connected to the datu either through blood or social connections, and enjoy the benefits of nobility. You do not toil for the datu but you must pick up arms when called to battle. You have enjoyed the ability to take on multiple arts. Nobles in the Sultanate serve and give a tribute to the Sultana. The Sultana is akin to an empress, ruling over kings, that are the datu and rajahs. Nobles can become pandita, or wise-men, if they become well-versed in the Bulanan. They are knowledgeable in the Moon Law and custom. Gain a burning bright silver lance.

7

Panglima or Royalty. You are directly connected to your settlement’s datu, either the datu is your uncle, grandparent, or parent. You are revered as an Aristocrat, although the expectation for you is much higher. If you are born female then you were treated as a binukot, a veiled maiden, hidden from the rest of the world until you were to be wed to someone your parents decided is fit for their social class. If you are born male you were trained in the arts of war and leadership. You begin with a royal heirloom.

8

Lunar Royalty. You are directly related to Lunar Sultana herself, which makes you one of the 78 Lunar Princes. Be careful, the others are out to kill you. They understand only one can become the next Lunar Monarch. It is cutthroat, but you are also given some of the best training affordable in the entirety of the Sword Isles, and have known extravagant privileges. You have a number of consorts and servants following after you. Princes that are of royal blood are referred to as Katchil, and the crown prince was termed Rajah Muda. Rajah Laut were third-ranking dignitaries. A high-ranking council of elders known as the Bichara Atas counsels the Sultana. You begin with a silver ear ornament that signifies your Lunar Heritage.

165

KADUNGGANAN

VIRBANWA A priest walks out of an Earthquake baroque cathedral. Doves flutter in every direction. He is wrapped in three layers of silk: a robe, a jacket, and then a scarf. The robes of a sonat. He wraps his headwrap around his forehead and it bears the seven-pointed star of his religion: the belief in Makakagahum and all His angels. A peasant finishes his early morning routine and walks back to the inner village, offering a portion of his meal to the marble statue of an angel. He then goes and drinks with his friends. As they eat, a party of armored men: dressed in abaca fiber undershirts and bamboo breastplates, riding upon tall and noble sarimanok, saunter into town. They give a quick offering to the church, before walking down to an inn to find some rest. A young girl runs up to one of them as they remove their paeked helmet. “Can I be like you, some day?” “You want to be a kabalyero like us? Then you have to believe in Makakagahum and the power that he can grant us all.” The kabalyero smiles. He is buff, wide-set, and wearing a large textile scarf around his shoulders like a cloak. “Then you have to show your Datu that you are worthy of becoming one.” “I will!” “O, Huwana, come here dear!” And an elderly woman, wearing a simple dark undyed gray robe pulls the young girl back to her. “O, most gracious and valiant kabalyero, thank you.” “There is no need. In fact, you must flee right now. Evacuate into the hills, where the shelters are.” “Why, o great kabalyero?” As he speaks, the other kabalyero are already going about warning the people, and the speaking kabalyero’s captain walks up to the Datu to tell him to gather his people and his forces for a stand. “Raiders have come,” says the kabalyero. “We have to fight them back, for the glory of the Lakanate.” “I see. May Makakagahum bless you!” “And may the Ashen Star light your road,” replies the kabalyero, just as he wheels around and brings out his lance, decorated with gold and flames and stars. There is a shout, a war cry. The Kabalyero of the Lakanate charge, to protect the Lakan in the name of their God.

166

Ambitious warlords, imperialist nobles, and opportunistic merchants. The river chiefdoms of Lontok, Namayan, Malilu, and Tundun were conquered and invaded by the Empire of Issohappa, led by the Pale Kings, which introduced to them the concepts of land ownership, colonization, the printing press, and the faith known as the Ashen Star.

History Issohappa was driven away ten years ago, at the turn of the century. They adopted everything that benefitted them: Issohappan temporality, work mindset, mercantilism, and imperialism. Tundun did not drive Issohappa away on its own: they had the help of all the major kingdoms in the archipelago, including all the way up north to the island of Sonyoh. Lakan Lubu, and his Queen or Lakambini were baptized. They installed the Ashen Star as the state religion--two ideas from Issohappa--that meshed with the native religion. Together, they set off with a new goal in mind: to unite the disparate warring states of The Sword Isles into a single, unified state, known as the Virbanwan Lakanate and to usher in the Millenium Kingdom. For the next fifty years the Lakanate trained and grew stronger, raiding and trading along the shores of Baik Hu for more knowledge and weaponry, as well as more connections to gain external wealth. They conquered the river and lake kingdoms and expanded their domain. They learned to create earthquake baroque structures, strong against both typhoons and earthquakes, and through this they created huge temples for Makagagahum, their Paramount God who was said to rule over all the other smaller deities (called dyos) which were in the style of their own spirit houses, albeit with a few innovations from Issohappa introduced. These great churches, otherwise known as simbahan, or worship places, became the centers of Virbanwan settlements, and usually right beside their Datu. A single Virbanwan settlement is bound to have both a pari, a priest, and a balyan, a faith healer spirit medium, who attend to different needs. The Lakanate has since been growing their strength, earning the ability to saddle and ride upon horses as well as fight with more steel armor, although not at length for the tropical swelter of the Archipelago might overcome them. In addition to those, they stole the printing press brought about by Issohappa, and have since become the first polity to begin printing texts. They used this chance to write official government history texts that exalted Virbanwa’s cherry-picked best qualities, and ignored everything else.

KADUNGGANAN Traditions In this practice of nation-building, they exalted themselves, conveniently leaving out all help gotten from the other Polities during the Lakanate Conspiracy against Issohappa. But they would never admit that there is any polity within The Sword Isles that is greater than them. Virbanwa stands as one of the most powerful states in The Sword Isles. Large swathes of disenfranchised and poor people live in its regions. Baikhan are corralled into specific enclaves and experience horrid discrimination from the higher classes. The Ananaran Galleon Trade continues evermore, continuing the connection between Issohappa and The Sword Isles, connecting Issohappa as well to the rest of the Southeast Continent. Virbanwa continues to become rich, gaining a monopoly on silvers and precious items from the Issohappan Far West Continent. However, there are those that do not prescribe to Virbanwa’s codes, tenets, and principles tend to be those living in the margins, those that fight back against the tide of “progress”, and find kindred spirits in the other polities. This culture of separatism takes Virbanwa’s progress and uses it against the Corrupt Crown to create a better future for the kingdom. From where can such philosophies and knowledges arise? Outside of the imperial center, there can be found villages and settlements that are not as penetrated by the Imperialist propaganda, due to the nature of power in The Sword Isles. Settlements in the fields of inner Rusunuga ascribe to a syncretized version of the Ashen Faith, crafted of both love and rebellion. A mix of Anito and Sampalataya, they practice many indigenous traditions while clad in the aesthetics of the Empire. They venerate images of Makayao, the Tortured Son of God, as they venerate the images of Jamiyun Kulisa. They stick close to superstitions and rituals that would be seen as heretical and blasphemous by the “purer” city faiths. More importantly, mentala (here known now as orasyon) and magical amulets have become intense religious connectsion to a past that they have been severed from. This Ashen Folk Religion is very often known as The Earth-Swallowed Star. Kadungganan of the Lakanate, Kabalyero, follow The Code of the Sword, which necessitates that they serve the people of the Lakanate, and that they give up their life for the Lakan. While they are treated like knights of their own right, are expected to travel to the Huwan’s side when expected.

It is drilled very early into the young Lakanate tawo’s soul that the Lakanate, by virtue of being the chosen people of Makagagahum and having been able to “repel” the conquest of the “more powerful” Issohappa. The truth of this was that it was more like all of the states in The Sword Isles chipping in to help repel the invaders, with some help from Sonyoh. The Lakanate thus believe that the Rajahnate, Confederation, and Sultanate are all heathens that must be brought into the Lakanate’s embrace. They are wrong, of course, but this fuels the Lakanate’s imperialist ambitions, and it has thus begun its inevitable march into the rest of The Sword Isles. Lakanate Nobles are known as Maginoo, and usually own land and rule over swathes of peasant in addition to their own debtors. Nobles of the Lakanate are expected to keep being nobles, and are taught in the more advanced knowledge, given manuscripts and exams by their parawali to pore over. Nobles are expected to be subservient to the Datu and know the ways of the Golden Web Tapestry, the code of conduct and political framework among nobles, an intricate and complex web of manners and right speech, which “sets them apart from those of the lower classes”. Many nobles become warriors, but also priests and spiritual leaders. Some nobles can become Datu, if they wish, by leaving the settlement with their own wealth and following. It is their privilege to be able to go into any occupation. In the Lakanate, there are two kinds of Freemen: the timawa, who are freemen that can choose who they serve and have their own businesses, and the bayani, who are the Kadungganan who fight for a Datu that they choose. Bayani make their livelihood through engaging in wars and raids with the Datu that they serve. Chattel are called the same here as in any other settlement. They are treated more or less the same, although the Batara Lakan has a large crew of debtors that work for him as his personal attendants, as royal chefs and butlers and all the more. Materially, they have taken upon the innovations of the Issohappans: they now wear kalsones balones, or balloon pants, more than bahag, and they have adopted the wearing of wooden clogs and slippers more often than not. Some of the richer ones even have access to leather boots and silk socks.

Growing up, Lakanate Tawo have access to military monasteries, where they are taught the natural philosophies. The most important thing taught here is the sovereignty of the Lakanate over the Archipelago.

167

KADUNGGANAN Noteworthy Persons Batara Lakan Huwan Rekno. The current Batara Lakan is a man named Huwan Rekno, who is directly related to Lakan Lubu. He is said to be a noble man, wearing a cape and leather boots at all times, mixing it with his bahag and baro get up whenever he descends upon the world.

Using this trade he elevated himself to the status of Maygintawo: a noble by wealth. He goes around now upon his biray, which he has outfitted with all sorts of items from across the world, collecting and recruiting Kadungganan to be part of his rising merchant nation.

When he must present himself as he truly is: the manifestation of Makagagahum upon the earth, he is like a saint that has fallen upon the world. It is said that around his neck floats a halo of thorns, which is said to signify the world upon his shoulders as he performs penance of trying to unite the islands.

Barangay Lagusnilad. A large village by the Nilad River, upriver from Ananara itself. Known best for their yearly penitents, who flay themselves in emulation of the First Gahumnon, to strip themselves of their sin. Lagusnilad is also well known for being right beside fertile rice plains, and is the farming capital in the region. It is common for them to seek help from Kadungganan to deal with monsters in their field, or to help them appease a dragon. They are the constant subject of raids from the banwa of Sinuku, who fights back against the sovereignty of Virbanwa. They are led by Datu Sedero, a well known merchant warrior and penitent, who wants to put an end to those Sinuku upstarts.

He wears a gigantic crown fashioned like a halo of flames, with four cardinal points depicting a crocodile, a dog, a serpent, and an eagle. This crown burns from behind his head, like a bonfire of his duty. His gown is not made of cloth, but rather, of stone feathers plucked from slain angel wings, those too weak to properly protect Makagagahum’s chosen. The stone wings wrap around him, ivory and marble-like, and his face is in a perpetual pained countenance. On top of his stone gown, he wears a veil of burgeoning silk made from the souls of the damned that he failed to save, which he keeps to constantly remind him of his failures, of the failures of past kings, and those that they can yet save. The souls wail. His feet never touch the floor. Whenever his feet touch the earth, the halo digs spears into his neck. He floats with the strength of his faith. May Makagagahum be blessed. His skin is pale, as if he is dead, and his eyes are scintillating iridescent. His hand can kill and revive with a word. When he is forced to fight, he makes heaven descend upon his foes. A testament to his sacrifice as the leader of this burgeoning new Empire. He speaks slow and without menace. However, his kabalyeros and Kadungganan are fiercely loyal to him. Mahasenapati Akuna Salamangka. The head warlord directly below Batara Lakan, who also acts as his right hand man. Or woman. Akuna Salamangka was born as binukot to Datu Bigiris, of Put’wan, as Himaya. When Huwan Rekno saw her beauty, he sought to make her his new sandil, or concubine. However this was forbidden in their new faith, and so he settled for making Akuna his Mahasenapati, or Great Warlord. She has since began burgeoning campaigns into the plains of Rusunuga in an attempt to conquer them, although Sinuku is nigh unconquerable. Soon she will try to conquer all of The Sword Isles, in the name of love for her Lakan. She is tall and immaculately beautiful, even in the battlefield, with a face round like the moon and hair blacker than the sea. Maygintawo Palipidan. A warrior-merchant who made a fortune trading items he has raided from the shores of Madaki, Iyamat, and Southern Baik Hu.

168

noteworthy locations

Pinangilan. A barangay to the north of Virbanwa, it deals in raiding traveling merchant ships that disembark or dock at Ba-e. They are in constant war with Ba-e because of this. Their Datu, Datu Yukul, has been stealing weaponry from Baikhan and Naksuwarga shipments to better their weaponry. Some say they are readying an attack against Ba-e. One that can destabilize both Virbanwa and Ba-e, leading to a destructive conflict. Gibankaw. On the northeastern tip of Ramasa, right below the Virbanwa conquered island of Rusunuga. They have adopted the Virbanwan Faith in the Ashen Star, and have converted their bamboo palaces and wooden spirit houses to churches and citadels. They are most well known for their sarimanok knights, their greatest cavaliers, which the Datu himself, Datu Isiran, trains. They have nurtured the greatest warriors and protectors in the isles. Now part of the Virbanwan Lakanate, they weather raids from the Rajahnate who seek to reclaim their manpower from the Lakanate. They also are locked in constant raiding with the polity of Ibalong to their east, whereupon they have to make sure to sail around other islands to try and not sail past waters where Ibalongan might sail. Vetani. A village far south, where the wind is far colder and faster. Here ancient citadels known as idyang have been built by the natives. Their limestone houses and hill castles have since been adapted by Virbanwa to create sturdier, stone-based constructs, houses, castles, and churches, even as they subsume and incorporate Vetani to their kingdom. In Vetani, the final stages of the training of a Virbanwan Kadungganan, known as a bayani, are held, where they must first prove themselves worthy in the Monastery of Ash and Tears, and then they must weather the environment and face the roving warbands of either Issohappans or raid the ships of Baik Hu trading vessels to the far south. Vetani is headed by the PriestDatu Pari Siman Damasku, who always begins harvesting seasons with sermons, and believes that as long as they are faithful to Lakan Rekno, no harm will come to them. However, the expansionist empire of Iyamat has begun to creep north, into the Southern Tip Islands, whereupon Vetani lies.

KADUNGGANAN Other Culture Impressions To Gatusan: Painted devils, kin eaters and treacherous liars at worst, at best they are useful, at the very least they understand the concept of commerce. To Akai: Thorns on the road to unity, savages and barbarians who practice a baser version of our Faith. May their moon be smothered by the light of the Star.

Virbanwan Naming Conventions: Virbanwans have surnames, mandated by the Lakanate. Their names are tainted by Pale King nomenclature. Virbanwanon Names: Huwan, Lesandra, Eeya, Pavlo, Ymbrosyo, Karmala, Dyusa, Ylisa, Olrac, Dranbreb Virbanwanon Surnames: De Sutla, Salamanka, Dabila, Oropon, Dimauri, Magsaysay, Reyes, De Basi

To Ba-e: Tradition erodes, and soon they will falter like the flicker of candlelight. Our steel and star will be enough to turn them into vassals.

As a Virbanwan, keep in mind...

To Apumbukid: God has no eyes for chattel.

0 You must choose if you stay a puppet of the Ashen Star.

0 You are prone to having a world view tainted by propaganda. 0 You are prone to saying something rash.

Virbanwan Honorifics: Ginoo [gee-nu-O] (Masculine), Binibini [bee-nee-bee-nee] (Feminine), Poon [Po-ON] (Lord, general)

0 You have access to stranger technologies, use them to your advantage.

0 Virbanwa is an exemplar of unity: therefore work together. As a Virbanwan, you begin with two: Abaka slippers, a foreign trinket, a necklace from your hometown, a bangle made of boar tusk, a frayed silk coat, a bamboo staff, beautiful textile from the last place you visited, a golden anklet, a piece of the underwater realms, a compass that you don’t need, food from a place you’ve never been before

Subcultures

There are 3 Major Subcultures in Virbanwa. Roll a d6 or choose:

1-2

Provincial. You live in the provinces, outside of the city. You all once had your own cultures (and truly, you still retain them in one way or another) but you have been thoroughly erased by Virbanwan imperialism, and you are conditioned to follow the city’s lead, and the city’s lead only. You can speak Virbanwanun and you begin with a worthless item.

3-4

Corregimiento. You live in the borders of Virbanwa, where various corregimientos or forts are put up, to protect the Lakanate from attacks from outside, as well as to continue its expansion. You may have been conscripted from a young age, or if not, at least have been taught how to protect yourself from raids. You can speak Virbanwanun and you begin with a bolo.

5-6

City. You live in the heart of darkness, the grand capital city of Virbanwa. Ananara is so large that it consumes most of the Ananaran Bay, and has choked out the grand River it sits upon (whose name now has been forgotten, though many say that it is named Layag, or Layaraya, or Namyan), killing the diwata of the river. Ananara is the crown city of the Lakanate, where the current Batara Lakan, Lakan Huwan Rekno, and the royal family live, ordained as divine ruler by the Mahapari (greatest priest), currently Yesidru. Ananara is the largest metropole in all of The Sword Isles, owing to its long history as being the eventual descendant of the ancient grand chiefdom of Tundun. It is structured like a wheel, with all roads being the spokes, and the Broken Bone Cathedral Palace being the hub. Near the hub, all buildings are made of bloodstone, created from the coagulated and then mined blood of killed Pale Kings. In random areas of the city, the ancient Angel Machines powered by Pale King blood have been colonized and repurposed into apartment complexes. Important due to the ever increasing trade and population brought about by domestic and international trade. Port trade is lively here, and the people here really do believe that Virbanwa is the most powerful of the polities. All people here usually wear (and you begin with): silk jackets, balloon pants, and simple wooden sandals (paruka).

169

KADUNGGANAN Lineage

Roll a d8 or choose from the following lineages. 1

Fury Prophets Orphan. You are an orphan taken in by the Fury Prophets, a group of mendicants who live in Ananara, who preach the coming Sword Fury Devouring of Makaubos, who shall annihilate all. To that end you have been trained in almost every art of violence. Not of war, but of violence, personal violence, as an asceticism to achieve Conjunction with Makaubos, the Wrath aspect of Makagagahum.

2

Saint of Beggars Offering. You were an offering to the Saint of Beggars. You’ve never known your real parents: your parents were the Beggar-Mendicants of the Saint of Beggars, who is known as Buyung, who is an ancient god of the Isles, a diwata of the chattel. You’ve learned how to swindle, love, sneak, destroy, steal, and pray under the bastards of the Saint of Beggars, all of whom have been given as an offering to try and alleviate their own lives. “Beggars should not exist” is the first principle of the Saint of Beggars.

3

Bloodbound to the Lakan. You are one of the Batara Lakan’s concubine’s children, which cannot be shown to the public. Therefore you cannot be royalty or an aristocrat, and the truth of who you are must be kept quiet.

4

Corregimiento Child. You were born in a corregimiento: a border settlement that is fortified by stone walls, created on the fringes of Virbanwan territory to both keep back the waves of the other settlements as well as to create anchor points for expansion. In the borders, you are exposed to most of the other cultures of the Sword Isles, but the priests are more strict in their hold of power, and punish others for the smallest deviation from religious norm from Sampalataya.

5

Farmers. You were born into a settlement of farmers. You have nothing much to your name, and you are constantly swindled out of your labor. You don’t even own your labor! Those capitalist pig datu take your grains from you to sell it to the City but pay you nothing in return. What a fucking joke. You burn your brows off to work here. Something has to give. You’re tired of resilience.

6

State Kawal. You come from a line of State Kawal: Kawal that enforce the Batara Lakan’s invisible power across the various polities subsumed under Virbanwa’s flag. You have been taught the things the State Kawal would be taught, but this might have made you blind to propaganda.

7

Rebels. You have known nothing but the constant struggle. You live deep into the mountains, once holy, now nothing but places for foreigners to create new ventures or live in, and for capitalist datu to rip portions out of to create beaches in places that used to be swamps. You have been raised therefore to the harsh truth of the Lakanate. Therefore: down to the State and God!

8

Pale King. You are born of a Pale King. Your eyes are the color of frozen azure, your hair the color of platinum ray, your skin the alabaster of ravishing death. It is all right to not love who you are, but rememer that the circumstances of your birth matters less than your impact on the world. Therefore choose Hiyang instead of Scourge. Therefore become better than who you are.

170

KADUNGGANAN Social Standing Roll a d10 or choose:

1-2

Disenfranchised. You are the dregs of society, kept alive but with contempt and without help. You are downtrodden and living is painful. You begin with nothing. Many Virbanwan bihag that don’t get sold become Disenfranchised. Many Mendicants and Friars are considered Disenfranchised.

3-4

Peasant. You are a peasant farmer. You must be from the provinces. You are downtrodden and taxes are too much for you. You begin with a chopping sword.

5-6

Worker. You work in the endless machineries and bureacracy of Virbanwa. You must be from the city. You are downtroddden and living is too expensive. Some priests are this. You begin with 3 coins.

7-8

Middle Class. You have some capital, and get to enjoy some parts of life, but Virbanwan propaganda has bred contempt in you for the lower classes. What do you do with your privilege? You begin with 10 coins.

9-10

Ruling Class. You are the great beast of our times, born with a silver spoon in your mouth and capable of pursuing whatever you wish. Do you not see who you are, an angel with the wings of blood? Choose how to live your life; it is not God who will judge you but the people. Begin with 3 Silver-Minted Coins, which are considered Bahandi across the Sword Isles. You cannot become a Headtaker for any reason.

171

KADUNGGANAN

Ba-e The last Baikhan junk left the harbor. Trading season with Baik Hu had ended. Danum worked the bellows of her master’s forge, even as the master finished her last batch of iron blades.

“Danum,” said Kinaiya, as they floated about near the waterfall. The bronze statue of the Hibiscus Makinaadmanon watched over them. “When are you leaving?”

“That’s enough. You go on ahead and take a break. There’s a feast tonight, to mark the end of trade.”

“In the next moon. Don’t worry.”

Her master was Kadanay, signified by his glinting emerald eyes. Danum nodded, as her master wiped his brow with a nearby cloth and made his way back into his home. Danum cleaned up what was left of the blacksmith shed (gusali), and then walked over to a hill overlooking the harbor. From here, Danum could see most of Ba-e, even as it glowed as the torches were lit, as the sun dipped into the horizon. She sat with her hammer, tossing it and catching it reflexively, as she walked around the area. Before long, a “psst” resounded from the trees behind her. Danum turned and smiled. A young woman, wrapped in crimson silk although wearing no jewelry, hid within the tangle. “Your Majesty, do you not think it is uncouth of you to play around in the tangle like that?” “Hold your tongue, Danum. I wish only that none of my kawal know that I’m gone from my bukot.” Danum smiled, then. “Come then, Kinaiya. The waterfall awaits.” Giggling, Danum took Kinaiya’s hand and Kinaiya felt her heart leap. She felt warm, even as they rushed down the hill and followed up a stream. After a few more moments of walking, Kinaiya heard the rushing of water. They broke through a brush, and there found a lake whereupon a waterfall cascaded. The most interesting thing about it is the giant bronze statue, depicting a diwata they knew by the name of Magayong Masukiling, the hibiscus goddess of love and compassion. “Don’t tell me you’re going to swim in that?” asked Danum, who had already removed her lambong and was halfway into the water. “Have you never swam in your life?” “I... Haven’t.” “Well there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Come on then.” Kinaiya still hesitated for a bit, but when she saw Danum smiling at her, she felt at ease. She shed her silks and walked bare into the water. Cold at first, but cold was good in the heat of Ba-e. There they danced and played, laughing and smiling, their glances too close, their lips almost touching...

172

“Are you going to be okay?” Kinaiya bit her lip. Danum turned to her and placed a hand on her cheek. “I will. Don’t worry. War Smiths don’t usually head into the front lines. And if we do, I’m pretty good with a hammer. You don’t have to worry about me, all right?” “I can’t help but.” “Then let me leave you with a promise.” Danum leaned in and kissed Kinaiya. Kinaiya breathed in sharply, but kissed her back. When Danum pulled away, Kinaiya’s emerald eyes glinted. “With that, I seal you a promise. I will return. And we will work on helping you hone your Stonewaking sorceries. All right?” “All right.” “Gotta remember, according to your own mother: trade connections cannot be established without a bit of raiding,” said Danum, smiling. “It’s a necessary evil to realize the Sangpamegat’s dream of a righteous kingdom.”

Ancient guardians, sacred priests, and keepers of vast lore. Ba-e is currently ruled by Sangpamegat Kalangitan. They, poetically called The First Kingdom in The Sword Isles, will not bow to the rising tide of violence of the Festival of the Reddest Night. They believe their Sangpamegat (Highest Chief), Dayang Kalangitan, to be a manifestation of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, the Queen of Mercy. She claims the title Chakravarti and wishes to expand to the Nine Directions to place all under her righteousness, to guide all living beings to Glory. The grasslands, wetlands, and forests of Ba-e are pocked with mysterious statues of the Tranquil Sage Himayanon Nawara, cast in stone, bronze, and gold. Other statues of other worshipped deities exist, such a Golden Tara, the great BATALA, the destroyer Makaobus, and the dharmapala Mahakala.

History Ba-e was established sometime during the Seventh Sun Era. They were among the Ancient Kingdoms, those disparate polities that existed across the archipelago region for centuries. Ba-e thus is an ancient kingdom, and owing to this fact, they have ancient traditions, songs, and epics. Ba-e today is not Ba-e of fabled yesteryear: golden statues of Himayanon Nawara, the Tranquil Sage, the great Annuvara, the Liberated Enlightened One that started the Annuvaran faith, pock the forests and grasslands, whereupon roots and branches swarm to retake it. Smaller statues hang from necklaces and

KADUNGGANAN waistcords, a signifier of Annuvara’s influence. The Kingdom itself has the Golden Sword Order: an order of knights who fight with forward curving blades known as ginunting.

Traditions Ba-e records all official documents in copperplate, whether it be paying off debts, creating alliances between polities, and the like. This is a practice inherited and copied by Virbanwa and Akai, but not Gatusan and Apumbukid, who find that spoken word is more powerful than written script. Ba-e religions is influenced by foreign AshininAnnuvaran religion, from phallic symbols known as linga being used for rituals, to the statues of the Annuvara from the Annuvaran Religion still standing and prayed to. Ba-e dead are buried twice: once full, and then again cremated, to purify their sins from the world, and so that their charred remains can become ancestor spirits that can be worshipped. Ba-enun Anitu teaches the following of rituals that align one with the various paganitohan (gods) and bulakdiwa (bodhisattvas) as paths to becoming Himayanon (literally: Blossomed): one who finds Glory and finds existence outside of the cycles of violence. Temples are created as well: 8-roofed pagodas of both wood and stone, inspired by Annuvaran architecture, kept within 8-sided walls of painted stone, with a single opening depicting blossoming flowers and ancient serpents. Houses are also enclaves of 5 houses within a square stone. These are all influences of AshininAnnnuvaran faiths. Ba-e holds the number 8 to high regard among them. Their houses are always of 4 sides, and royalty have access to 8-roofed and 16-roofed houses. There are 8 holy weapon types: the sword, the dagger, the spear, the shield, the bow, the blowgun, the javelin, and the gun. Their walls are almost always 8-sided, each one facing the eight holy directions, which are each protected by a holy guardian beasts, or the Bantay Walodako, literally, the Eight Directions Guardians. Ba-e has constructed a giant hardwood and stone house with 16 roofs. It is not a house for living, but rather for study. Within shelves are scrolls and scrolls of palm leaf manuscripts as well as copperplate slates, as well as paper scrolls imported from other regions across the known world. This is known as the Bahay Karunongan, or the House of Wisdom, the only place in all of the Sword Isles where knowledge and writing has been written down. This is something that Virbanwa has been trying to gain access to, to no avail. Only the smartest and most intelligent of parawali can be admitted within, remembered by guardian spirits of the House of Wisdom itself. There is said to be approximately 875,000 pieces of writing within the cascading squarepatterned shelves of the 16 roofed House. Recently, the Balay has begun to admit students, those with promising spiritual or martial prowess. This is a poorly veiled attempt by the Sangpamegat to cultivate thunderous Kadungganan loyal to Ba-e. These Kadungganan are taught in poetry, writing, politics, and warfare. They are known as the Mandirigma ng Ilang-Ilang, Warriors of Ylang-Ylang, shortened to Digilang (dig[ma] + ilangilang, war ilang-ilang). The Ilang-Ilang is a flower

extracted for oil and is used to ward off evil spirits. The royals of Ba-e are therefore swathed in silks and parasols, flower crowns and gold jewelry. Cauldrons and weapons from Baik Hu itself. Their lords are called Datu, but also Huang, King, due to Baik Hu recognizing them as an official kingdom. Ba-e has survived multiple Eras, and those that live in it will be sure that it will survive more. Ba-e is the oldest living polity, almost a thousand years in its life, and has since evolved to incorporate ancient Kadanay technology (the art of stonewaking) into their daily lives. Not just that, but geomancies from Baik Hu have made their way here as well, giving rise to unique syncretized pagodas, kirin statues, and phoenix houses. They have also copied Baikhan schooling systems, mixing it with monasteryschools from the greater Crescent Archipelago, to create a system of creating officials to certify that Ba-e does not only continue, but it will flourish. Ba-e wishes to create a veritable Merchant Republic. Their adherence and proximity to ancient Kadanay technology has provided them with unique aesthetics, clothing, and architecture. They prefer to cover themselves more fully, as with the Virbanwans. Their jewelry is not just gold, but jade and stone, glowing green. Even debtors wear this. The houses of the rich are built on top of hills, with vast gardens at the bottom of the hills. They prefer to wear unalloyed gold upon themselves, which they believe to be the cleanest and purest of all metals. The most important area of Ba-e is the Lake of Pulilan, the largest freshwater body in the Sword Isles. This lake is home to freshwater sardines, crocodiles, and other important freshwater marine food that has become an integral part to Ba-e life. Pulilan Silangan drains directly into the Bay of Ananara, and through the Silangan Strait do most junks travel into.

Aesthetics Their makeup and hygiene is extraordinary even for tawo among the Sword Isles, using white foundation and pitch black inks to create wingtips and eyeshadows, influenced by their long history. This facepaint has become an important part of culture by Royal Courtesans and Aristocratic Politicking, and even into the court dancing cultures. Ba-e royalty and nobles are horribly prone to realpolitik, vying for power over seaports, connections with powerful warriors, trading settlements, and positions among the court of the Sangpamegat. Ba-e values material wealth. Many of them wear silk and cloth shirts, whether man or woman, and they coat themselves in tassels and jewelry, usually of gold. The nobility flaunt their exotic, foreign items and wealth: black and white silks, ivory parasols, porcelain jars and accoutrements. Weapons from Iyamat or Baik Hu. Armor from Sonyoh. Ba-e is using its ancient knowledge and affinity to ancient sorceries to begin a campaign to unite all beings under the Sangpamegat, not through war but through trade networks and linking. In this way, they seek to become the center of the world, the nexus of the Universal Silkroad. Ba-e warriors--especially the bravest among them, the generals and commanders--enjoy enhanced warring

173

KADUNGGANAN technology that has allowed them to keep pace with the growing weapon prowess of Virbanwa. Bows that have bowstrings made of light, swords that have blades made of sun-rays, and daggers that have edges of crystallized moongleam: all practices and smithing techniques passed down by the Kadanay. The most important technology among the Ba-e tawo are two things: the sky-sampans and the artifact slates. Sky-sampans, which are circular boats that ride upon the wind, worked upon by diwata that are contractually bound by ancient Kadanay oath to carry the sampan, have become a major source for personal travel. Sages and nobility would ride upon these if they could commission them. Noteworthy Persons Sangpamegat Dayang Kalangitan, the Eternal Monarch, Chakravartin, Devarani. Once just a Dayang, she took over after her husband, Pamegat Diwajaya, was killed in battle against a Virbanwan Warlord. Using her Kadanay blood, she perfected the sorceries of Stonewaking, instilling stone and clay sculptures made by local potters and smiths with additional utility, the ability to float, and to keep food frozen. This technological marvels gave her the title of Hexer-Queen. She has frozen herself into a diwa-silk cocoon, letting her soul wander freely and roam, unshackled by physicality, but her body itself is entombed upon her throne, whereupon a giant gold statue of her has been built: a goddess with eight hands, each wielding a weapon, and a crown that is like a balete tree. She rules Ba-e directly, and eternally. She will eventually rule Gubat Banwa, and she supremely believes that she is the Queen Aspect of the Mahawaira Himayanon, the Primordial Buddha. Believing herself to be a PhilosopherEmpress, a Devi Chakravartin, she wishes to spread her glory, righteousness, and merit by invading other countries and not slaying or colonizing them, but rather, letting them convert into Anitu. All gods have a place in anitu. Maharlika Langkus. A maharlika who has only recently awoken from a hundred year slumber, being submerged and contained in the Temple of Resurrection, a natural temple within a large cave upon the mountain of Tinaga. Known for his strange cloud-white hair, he travels around the Ba-e region helping out those in need. He is mute as well, although he can communicate well enough with gestures and writings. Thus he brings with him a great number of palm leaf scrolls. He is a master swordmaster, walking around with a salawal, sarong, paruka, azure baro, and grand crimson pudong, with tails that flow in the wind. He loves chicken as well. He wishes to find an ancient binukot that he was tasked with protecting, the reason for his travels. Senapati Sibasib. A burgeoning warlord-merchant datu who seeks to prove himself powerful, leading his haop of Katingan to battle. He is loyal to Ba-e, and always jumps at the chance to conduct raids against the various Virbanwa or Gatusan settlements, even all the way to Sinuku or Ibalnong. He is one of the first ones to adopt the Akai introduction of horses, known as kuda, in their tongue, which the people of Sinuku also know of.

174

Sibasib leads his Kuda Kawal cavalry when performing land raids. He is deeply in love with one of the Sangpamegat’s binukot, a girl named Kinalubang Bulaklak, who actually sneaks out from her bukot and fights alongside him with a mask on. Other Culture Impressions To Virbanwa: Wayward stars streak across the sky. Thrones shall fall before we do. To Akai: Warrior Braves and courtly regals. They are royalty, grandeur, and raiders all. They deserve respect, but we have stood far longer than they have existed. To Gatusan: They shall raid the world, and if we play our cards right, they will be shackled by gold and heirloom to us. They shall be the swordfish to our barge. To Apumbukid: Our goals do not conflict, but their isolation will be their downfall. The roots speak, the earth breathes. To Achieve Concordance, one must be willing to break it. To become God one must be willing to kill Him. Ba-e Honorifics: Gat for Males, Binibini for females. Ba-e Naming Conventions: Similar to Rajahnate conventions. They do not have surnames, and usually use one or two words. Ba-enon Names: Pangil, Lontok, Dula, Angkatan, Namwaran, Tagkan, Palaba, Kalamayin, Panginoan, Bagtas, Sasaban, Salalila, Avijirkaya, Maitan, Salihan, Talim, Lumban, Pila, Gatid, Dewata. As a Ba-enon, keep in mind... 0 You are more often than not a follower of AshininAnnuvaran-Anitu faith. Remind another of the Righteous Path. 0 Only through merit can one find strength and glory. 0 The great saints that have gone before you offer a path to righteousness. 0 There is more to this world than physicality. 0 The gods are great, yet still stuck within the cycle of violence. As a Ba-enon, you begin with two: glass beads, a statue of the Tranquil Sage Ascetic Annuvara, a soft bamboo flute, a pack of healing poultices that will run out soon, flowers in a garland, cooking implements, jarlets filled with hot spring water, a white stone from a holy mountain, a hardwood shield (kalasag), a breastplate made of elephant hide, a collection of boar tusks, a peaked iron helmet, bamboo shinguards, golden bangles, a hunting spear, wooden sandals

KADUNGGANAN Subculture

Ba-e has 5 major subcultures, based on the five most powerful polities about the main city of Ba-e. Roll a d10 or choose: 1-2

Miatang. A coast settlement at the northern tip of the Kumintang region. Miatang is the land nexus for trade with Pannai and Gatusan. It is ruled by a powerful laksamana, Datu Hagutak. Known for stone fortifications and bamboo watchtowers, they regularly fend off raids from the northern polities. Many maharlika are brought here as a final part of their training, where they are forced to live in Miatang for a single harvest to provide both on the boots training for the maharlika, as well as well needed warriors to protect Miatang. You begin with a weapon.

3-4

Pailah. Directly to the north of Ba-e, Pailah, which is ruled by Datu Ganasakti, a son of the Sangpamegat, is one of the most important centers of trade and commerce in Ba-e, other than the city of Ba-e itself. Holding at least a thousand households, they craft pottery, weave textiles, smith gold, and craft weapons. Here Baik Hu also stations their trading junks, along with Naksuwarga and Madaki adyongs who trade with them horses, weapons, and debtors. It is currently suffering from ashen star missionaries from Virbanwa. Traders and travelers frequent Pailah due to its close proximity with Mainit, the polity of medicinal hot springs. You begin with a horse.

5-6

Namayan. A banwa ruled by three Datu: Datu Karas, Datu Dayawan, and Datu Mabantad. It serves as a trading polity for Sinuku and Vuyu to the south, as well as access to the plains where rice can be grown. However, it is constantly suffering invasions from Virbanwa, causing it to earn a brunt of Ba-e’s maharlika to shore up defenses. The banwa itself is made up of a collection of stone fortresses, that lets people retreat into whenever a raiding party arrives. When needed, however, Namayan is beside a thick jungle with many earthen outcroppings, and the folk of Namayan can retreat there. Namayan is still also a prime trading port, whereupon they trade with gold kernels and gold barter rings as currency. Namayan is also the main shipbuilding polity of Ba-e. You begin with a carnelian adorned bracelet.

7-8

Talim. Upon an island in the middle of the bay of Pulilan, a few ways north from Namayan, there is the island of Talim. Used as a respite port for most traders, it has begun to create housing districts where traders can pay the Datu, a Kadanay named Kiyalilidan, to rest before traveling back home. Thus Talim has become a prime place for trading cultures and stories, most of which are inscribed upon copperplate. Talim is known for having the largest population of Kadanay left, whereupon they spend their days writing upon copperplate histories and secrets and sorceries, as well as try to find ways to replicate the Stonewaking sorceries of their ancestors. You begin with a ritual knife.

9-10

Ba-e. The great city from which the Sangpamegat’s power emanates, it is a land of pagodas and stupas, of holy golden temples and strangler fig complexes. It is influenced intensely by Baikhan culture, and has a large number of Baikhan refuge enclaves within. Ba-e is a trading center: merchants and traders of Ba-e bring the items brought by Baik Hu to the rest of the islands north, especially to trade with those of the Gatusan and the myriad islands to its east, before returning to pay back those Baikhan eight to nine moons later. Sangpamegat Kalangitan’s stone and jade jewelry shimmer and glow with glowing green patterns, betraying their ability to use the sacred ancient Kadanay artifacts. You begin with a white parasol.

175

KADUNGGANAN Lineage

Roll a d8 or choose from the following lineages.

1

Baikhan Refugees. Your family comes from the great Southeastern Continent, ruled over by the August Jade Empress. Due to the increasingly draconian laws your family has escaped the vast Jade Empire under the Yling Dynasty, of the Blazing Magnolia, increasingly fraught with civil war and scheming ministers. Finding peace and freedom in Ba-e, which exults in life and love.

2

Educators. Your family comes from trained educators–usually monks who gave up the Monastic Life–who teach in royal houses and even the great pagoda that is the House of Wisdom. Being in such an academic environment since birth has shaped how you approach things: you come at situations with a more methodical bent, not afraid to reference and cross reference and use things that you have learned before. You probably know a great deal about writing, and know how to write upon copperplate.

3

Artists. You come from a family of artists, who practice the art of painting, introduced here from Baik Hu. You carry around a paint brush and try to capture the world around you, realizing that it is about to end.

4

Blacksmiths. You come from a line of blacksmiths, either one who traveled around (most blacksmiths traveled from settlement to settlement with an apprentice peddling their wares and offering their labor) or one who had a close aristocrat patron that allowed them to stay in one settlement (or perhaps they were royalty themselves?) You learned the tools of the trade from them, and you have become mighty and loving when learning about the sacred act of Creation.

5

Honey Gatherers. You come from a family of professional honey gatherers, who travel into the deep wood to gather honey from beehives, mingling with the spirits of the forest to give them a bountiful harvest. Honey is the primary form of sweetener in the isles, and from it comes popular honey mead.

6

Artifactsmiths. A renowned kind of smith that crafts ancient spiritual artifacts, a holy mixture of blacksmithing, pottery, carpentry, and sorcery. These panday are known to learn the Stonewaking Arts from Kadanay smiths. Becoming an artifactsmith in Ba-e is a very difficult endeavor, requiring practical knowledge of basic blacksmithing in addition to passing a test conducted by the sages of Ba-e and past artifactsmith. Most artifactsmiths end up learning that they have Kadanay blood within them, although this is not the norm.

7

Fishermen. You come from a lineage of fishermen, either by the river mouths or out in the sea. You were born with a trident, harpoon, and net in your hands. The waters have known you long before you were born, and you embraced this. Everyday, you leap into the rushing rapids. Your hands are one with the fishes, and your patience for your aquatic friends knows no bounds.

8

Monastery Town. You come from a village that lies below a Monastery, usually with either a large temple pagoda or stone statue of the primary deity being worshipped or being used as a Spirit Guide. You were born knowing all about that God’s stories and history and teachings. You revel in their festivals, and something about you is shaped in their likeness, whether it be your hair, your fingernails, or jewelry. Why did you leave? Did you ever really know that God? Achieve Conjunction, Become Hiyang.

176

KADUNGGANAN Social Standing

This showcases the social class of your character before they became Kadungganan. Your social standing might have come from your lineage, or it might have come from something that happened after your lineage (ie. a merchant prince that has fallen from grace or accrued too much debt). It is up to you to connect the dots. Choose or roll a d8: 1

Bihag or slave. You were the victim of the Eighth Star Era’s burgeoning violence, and have become nothing but wealth to be traded. You begin with nothing.

2

Aliping Sagigilid or servant. You were indebted or were born into debt of a powerful person, whether it be a famed warrior, merchant, or aristocrat. Your hands are calloused from your work. You begin with a small push dagger.

3

Aliping Namamahay or peasant. You were a loyal worker to your communities’ chief. You had your own house within the community, and offered part of your labor to him. You begin with a farming tool.

4-5

Maharlika or Warrior. You were a freeman, working as a warrior for the datu that you have chosen. The datu shares their spoils with you, their fellow warriors, and you earn your own house with your own wealth, though you answer to the datu’s beck and call and sometimes toil for them. Gain a weapon.

6

Maginoo or Aristocrat. Ba-e aristocrats are known to be the most pompous of nobles among the Sword Isles. Having taken after the Baikhans that they’ve traded with for so long, they have grand wooden longhouses decorated with gold and built like pagodas. They wear long silk gowns, long sarongs, complex golden diadems, and walk upon wooden sandals, their feet never to touch the ground. They have servants carrying their parasols, and they are carried upon palanquins either by elephants or by their own servants. When they speak, they speak in lilting tones, and they always adhere to the Golden Web Tapestry. Many Ba-e aristocrats also have Kadanay ancestry, which shows in their magenta eyes. You begin with a valuable item.

7

Kadatuan or Royalty. You are directly connected to your settlement’s datu, either the datu is your uncle, grandparent, or parent. You are revered as an Aristocrat, although the expectation for you is much higher. If you are born female then you were treated as a binukot, a veiled maiden, hidden from the rest of the world until you were to be wed to someone your parents decided is fit for their social class. If you are born male you were trained in the arts of war and leadership. You begin with a royal heirloom.

8

Sun’s Royalty. You are directly related to the Sangpamegat, who had a host of concubines in her royal palace. You therefore inherit the grand Sun Heritage, and have the eyes of a Kadanay’s: magenta and burning. You walk around with a host of servants, have a personal Sun Shadow (Arawanino) who has pledged their life to protect you, and are taught histories, arts, warfare, poetry, and martial arts, both local and foreign. You begin with a gold sash, a signifier of your solar royalty.

177

KADUNGGANAN

Conjunctures Conjunctures are special events that happened at least once in your life. Choose 2 below, or you can roll: roll a d100, and simply reroll whenever you get a result higher than 70.

17. The nature spirits spoke to you from the trees and the mountains. You lost something important, something that could’ve been the answer to something you were doing, and the gods beckon to you.

1.

Jamiyun Kulisa, Brother Thunder, God of the Thunderclaps, resounded before you when you were young, bleaching your hair white.

18. You were raised in a fishing settlement, where you became skilled in the arts of sailing, boatcrafting, and harpooning. You are intimate with the Dagatnon, the little gods of the sea. How do those stuck in land view you?

2.

The Lord of the Forest took you in one day. You spent 7 years in his grove. Leaves and branches grow from your hair.

19. You were handed down an important weapon from your parent, but you lost it somewhere. Where did you lose it? What kind of weapon was it? You must create something equal in importance.

3.

You were born into great privilege and royalty: perhaps you were a son of a well-known Datu within Gatusan, or perhaps you were the crown prince of a Datu who serves the Sultana of Akai. Nevertheless, your privilege has blinded you to the truths of the world. What was the one truth that enlightened you?

20. You had an apprentice before. 21. You were born with a dream. A pattern, a weapon, a boat. Are you trying to create it?

4.

You blasphemed a Lord before, and you were kicked out of your community.

22. You saw an ancient datu in your dream once. He killed you, and you watched as he carried your decapitated head into distant lands.

5.

You were sent out on a venture that your lord knew only you could handle. You lost something when you returned.

23. You remember the tale of the Conquering King. He who launched an attack at Heaven, only to find there to be six more. The wisefolk that told you that story disappeared the day after.

6.

You fell in love with a spirit before. It did not end well. You still dream of them. Sometimes you cry, randomly.

24. A forest spirit went mad, and you watched as a band of Kadungganan quelled it.

7.

You killed a crocodile when you were younger. The ancestors curse you, and you do not rely on fate.

25. Angels/Demons/Spirits destroyed the town you were born in.

8.

You led a tribute mission once before to a foreign nation. Only you returned.

26. Imperialists created an iron village in the outskirts of the forest you used to call home. Their fumes and flames consumed the trees like hungry gods.

9.

Humadaw, an ancient hero of your culture, spoke to you directly when you cut off a part of a strangler fig. You walk around with his eyes.

27. You were blinded, or hobbled in some way, due to a fight you thought you could win.

10. You were the spokesperson (atubang) for a lord before, but you’ve lost that before becoming a Kadungganan. What you did must have been dire.

28. Your anger got the best of you: you died. But, somehow, you still live. Your Four-Part Soul still lives on, complete and intact. Someone brought you back from the brink.

11. You fell in love with a childhood friend. You two did something that forced them to have their fingers cut.

29. You loved a servant before, not yours. They cried to you as they were sacrificed in a ritual when their lord died.

12. You outwitted a spirit before, out in the grasslands. A dark shadow stands at the corner of your room whenever you sleep. 13. You were a veiled maiden (binukot), taught ancient stories and songs and crafts. You escaped. 14. An agent of fate knocked on your door. You did not answer. You no longer know if it is safe when someone knocks on your door. 15. The God Galura, Creator of Whirlwinds and Lightningstorms, revealed themself before you, and gave you a broken sword. You carry this sword, but it does nothing. Eagles keep watch over you. 16. An innovation ended horribly: you’ve lost your original body. Your Four Part Soul exists in a body you are not familiar with.

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30. You broke an important bond with someone you cared for. You regret that you can never mend your broken relationship. 31. You cooked an amazing feast before, one that resulted in the ignition of hearts. 32. You were born in Humonhon, the Isle of Ghosts. Your community consisted of wandering souls, lost from the coil. 33. You learned true patience after trying to fish for ocean dragons. 34. You have the demon blight upon your hand. Hide it. 35. You used to have a whole slew of pets, from king eagles to giant tortoises. You had to leave the island

KADUNGGANAN they frequented. 36. A winged eagle sang to you once, when you were a child. You’ve been chasing the song ever since. 37. You copied the dance of fighting monkeys and hawks, and you have become like that flaming dance ever since. 38. You found the story of the ancient datu Sumakwel being told by an elder shaman-healer. When you heard the entire story, the shaman-healer died. 39. You brought a community to tears before. Why must you inflict that? You must return to them one day. 40. A person you loved told you the story of the Mahanaga, the great serpent that encircled the world and one could see at night as a streak of white, like a river of stars. 41. Javril, the Great Angel of Flowers, sang to you a melody, one which you can only remember bits and pieces from whenever you engage in violence.

55. You died. Or, at least you thought so. You were brought back to life by a Kadungganan, but the Kadungganan died in doing so. 56. You fell in love with someone you were supposed to steal from or con. 57. You killed an innocent person before. 58. You committed the atrocity of butchering, but you were under orders. You were under orders. 59. You killed a nature spirit before. It was a petty spirit, one of a minor stream you once loved bathing in. 60. A serpent coiled around your loved one and now that loved one is immortal, but you cannot touch them. 61. The stories of the Night Child killed your nights. One day, you met the night child, and they stole away your gender. 62. You suffered a horrible, horrible injustice. To this day, there is no reckoning.

42. You fell in love with a Goddess, who lives in the sky above.

63. You were part of a different warband. You no longer fight together. One of them has died.

43. Your eye was plucked out by a crow. You’ve never needed it since.

64. You moved to another settlement to follow someone, but they were never there.

44. You gave counsel to a datu before, but it did not lead to a good outcome. 45. You saw the truth of the world, you felt the Supreme Soul, the goal of Hiyang, but have since forgotten it. Glimpses of it appear in your trances.

65. You were raised in a farming settlement deep into the plains of Rusunuga. All your life, you saw giant dragons flying in the clouds and warriors fighting in the fields. Eventually, you left your farming settlement, but this was a decision you’ve since learned to regret.

46. You wrote a treatise on something before, but it's lost to time or to flames. Someone read it before it was vanquished.

66. You remember the beautiful multicolored flowers of the grasslands of Kalanawan, but you don’t remember having lived there ever in your life.

47. You’ve been to the moon when you were a child. You saw the factory of angels, and the nest of devils. You saw the Grand Palace On The Moon.

67. You were the apprentice of a blacksmith, but someone killed your master, forcing you to wander alone. Did you know who killed them?

48. A Langitnon, a god from the sky, gave you wisdom before. It was the wisdom of forgetting, and you have since forgotten it.

68. You were swindled before by a wealthy merchant prince, who went away with all your gold before. Do you still look for them? Do you want your shit back?

49. A Suladnon, a god from the world under, gave you knowledge, before. It was the knowledge that all knowledge is not true. 50. You were the only one that escaped your village’s destruction.

69. You were raised in the streets of one of the metropoles, and had to fight your way to survive, becoming anyone and everyone’s servant. You were blessed eventually by Buyung Limus-an, the Diwata of Beggars. Where do you travel now? What useless item did Buyung Limus-an give you?

51. You stole something from your datu, and so the datu took something away from you.

70. You are a foreigner, looking for something here in the Isles. You will not find it.

52. You took a wrong turn and ended up in the underworld, once. You found your way out thanks to Iraon Daron, whose kind smile you will never forget. 53. An imperialist killed your parents, and then took pity and adopted you. 54. Your body was stolen. You live in a body given to you by a Langitnon. You do not remember how you look like.

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Debt No one in the Sword Isles gets into their present life unscathed, without Debt. Debt is the primary way of social movement in the Isles, after all. Choose or roll. To randomize, roll a d6 (1-2 is 0; 3-4 is 10; 5-6 is 20) and a d10 (ones place) to find a number between 1 and 3. 1.

A Virbanwan Murderglave named Amihan, who puts her work before her, to the detriment of herself. She made something for you, out of a need to prove herself.

16. Asina, an Apumbukid weaver that shared her dreams to you through her weavings. 17. Taraka, an ancient lake spirit that brought you water when you thought you were to die.

2.

A Gatusanon Heavenspear named Kilat, who shot out from the sky and saved you from a lantaka missile.

3.

A Virbanwan Buwaya Lancer named Niqulas, whose crocodile you almost killed.

19. Tenshi, a Ba-enon mothfolk who helped you get writing implements.

4.

Alho, a famous poet in Kangdaya, Capital of Gatusan, famed for his wit and appeal. He helped you find a safe place before.

20. Dara, a Virbanwan warrior-dancer who guarded your traveling caravan before.

5.

Adlaw, a four-armed, red-skinned demon. He gave you something you desperately needed at the time.

6.

Humul, a traveler from Vuyu, the sacred mountains of Rusunuga, who gave you a language no one else can speak.

18. Sumandak, an Akai civetfolk knight who offered you a ride to an island you needed to go on his boat.

21. Patima, an Akai singer and concubine to a lord, whom gave you important advice. 22. Nara, a healer in the Golden City of Put’wan, who healed you as you were in dire straits. 23. Maputra, an Akai veteran who only fights with a split spear, who taught you how to fight.

7.

Iroy was a handsome Akai patron who you worked for before, who did not put you in servitude.

8.

Suban was an Apumbukid warrior who protected your community before. They left before you could thank them.

9.

Payel was a Virbanwan merchant who helped you get resources for a project.

26. Samira, a beautiful Akainon sugapa peddler, who sheltered you one day in her drughouse.

10. Mahin, an old Akai sorceress, did you a favor, once. She waits for you.

27. Suga, a proud monkey-prince who rides a great horse from Apumbukid. He gave you a ride once across the picturesque grasslands of Kalanawan.

11. Akid, a deerfolk trickster who hunts for hawk eagles in the forest, taught you a secret about shadows. 12. Binayaan, an escaped veiled maiden of the Rajah of Gatusan, met you once and defeated you in single combat. 13. Cortador, a Virbanwan Sword Saint, who showed you nothing but sharpness, but helped you learn the secrets of combat. 14. Sam’baha, who was a noble, royalty born to Sipulapula, to the Royal Clan of Dimantag, but treated you as an equal. 15. Puraw, a tamawo that wandered the forests of Pumirang, friendly to the Confederation. They saved you from getting lost.

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24. Harina, a Ba-e guardian who you fought side by side with in an old war against the demigiants. 25. Kampur, a wealthy cinnamon merchant, who gave you a bit of something to help you on your way.

28. Lyssa, a General in Virbanwa, who you stole once from and was then excommunicated from Virbanwa. 29. Aduna, a kind giant cat living in the mountains, whom you conned to escape from. 30. Hiyas, a Confederation professional thief and corpse-raider who managed to fund a boat with her exploits. You stole something that was a family heirloom to her. You lost the heirloom.

KADUNGGANAN

Complications Complications are difficult and complicated relationships with two other characters, usually between Player characters. During character creation, choose two Complications on the next page, or roll to randomize. Roll a d50 (d100 and half the result). On each Complication, one of the blanks must be a Player Kadungganan. Each blank also must be a different name. Creating NPCs during this turn is encouraged. The names don’t have to be singular characters either, but may also be polities or clans or other groups.

18 - I cannot explain why I am inexplicably drawn to ____, but ___ is always at their side for reasons they cannot explain either. 19 - My sibling, ___, was separated from me at birth, and was brought up in ___. 20 - ___ does not know that they are my parent, and ______ wants to kill them. 21 - I have been honorbound by __ to protect ___.

1 - I love ___, but so does ____. We know this, but the one we love does not.

22 - I love ____, and they love me back. However, they do not take me seriously, and would rather be with ____.

2 - ____ killed someone important to me, but __ must protect them.

23 - I have an important item from ___ that they gave me when we were younger. I don’t know if they still remember. ____ wants it from me.

3 - I hold ___ dear to my heart, but they have forgotten who I am. I saved them from __ before. 4 - I serve ___ loyally, but my heart calls me to follow __. 5 - I committed a crime before with ___, which caused us to be exiled from our hometown, and caused __ to hate us. 6 - I love __ but __ loves me, and I know. 7 - My mentor, _____, does not know that I treat ___, someone they disapprove of, like my best friend. 8 - I’m helplessly infatuated with ___, but they don’t know this, they only see me as a friend and nothing else... And ___ knows this.

24 - ___, a member from the upper class, wishes to wed me, but I do not love them. I would rather be with _____, who is no good to me. 25 - I had romantic relations with ___ before, but it never went well. They’re with __ now, and it’s making things a bit awkward. 26 - I changed allegiances from ____ so I can be with __. 27 - ___ is my father, and I wish to kill them because __ told me to do so. 28 - ____ humiliated me before, and I will never forgive them. They did it in front of ___, who I hold dear.

9 - I want to get in a relationship with ___, but __, my sibling/mentor/parent, expressly disavows me from being in any romantic relationship.

29 - ___ saved me from mortal harm before, and so I have given my life to them. However, I have done the same for ___, and I have a feeling that they have feelings for me.

10 - ______ wants to kill me, but _______ is trying to stop them.

30 - ___ and __ are good friends, however I’ve kissed one of them and the other hates me for it.

11 - My parent has arranged for me to be married to __, but I wish to be with _____, who I cannot be with.

31 - ____ is the child of my old master, whom I respect. ____ is my old master, and they are still looking for their child.

12 - ____ doesn’t know that I was once a servant of ___. 13 - ____ and I are siblings, but we don’t know that _____is our parent. 14 - I am scorned by __ for something I did to them, but _____ thinks that they’re stupid for thinking that, and is on my side at all costs. 15 - I have been looking for __ all my life, and ___ wants me to kill them.

32 - ____ is my mortal enemy, and I would stop at nothing to kill them. _____ is the only reason why I haven’t yet. 33 - I am the disowned child of _____ martial arts clan. _____ is an esteemed student of said clan. 34 - ______ and I used to be great friends with _____, who died. It’s not the same anymore, and we’ve had rocky relations since.

16 - I served under __, but left after _____ told me to do so.

35 - ______ asked me to kill them so they wouldn’t get married to ______.

17 - ______ can give me something that I want,, but ___ wants me to get away from them.

36 - ______ and I were on opposite sides of a split in a martial art clan, of whom _____ is the heir.

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KADUNGGANAN 37 - ______ hates me, and only _____ knows why. 38 - ______ and I are great friends. We sit beneath weeping trees and sing of songs we wish to see. ____ is jealous of our friendship. 39 - ______ has made me something I still cherish. _____ wants it back. 40 - ______ killed someone important to me, and ______ wants to kill them for me. 41 - _______ and _______ are my best friends, but they have forgotten me for some reason. 42 - ______ taught me how to fight, but ______ taught me how to hate. 43 - I have fought _________ to a standstill, who ________ has struggled to defeat. 44 – I need _______ to give me something I need, but ________ keeps them away from me.

45 – I used to be friends with _________ but _______ revealed to me something I didn’t like about them. 46 - _______ used to be my childhood best friend, but _________ took me away from them. 47 - _______ and ________ served the same master before, but that master forced us apart for reasons I don’t know. 48 - _______ is afraid of me, and I don’t know why. They have told _______ for some reason. 49 - ________ needs to kill me to fulfill an obligation they were forced into with _______. 50 - ________ wants me to get together with ________ but we’ve already known each other for a long time, and don’t want to get together for reasons we both know.

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Convictions The Kadungganan of old sing of a horrible tale. The tale of three stars. The first Kadungganan, The Dog Warrior, was said to have arrived in this world with nothing but a blade. A pure blade, with no hilt. He arrived and stepped upon a river of blood. The First Star Era. He was born to inflict violence, but instead he was burdened with Rumination. “Why must we fight, if nothing changes?” The second Kadungganan, the Invincible Queen of Glaves, stepped upon Gubat Banwa with a dress made of one thousand and one spears. With her crown, she looked out into the world and saw everything fit for the taking. And so, she conquered. All the lands, all the people. And she scoured the world, and infested it with Scourge, because all those that come in contact with the Flame of Want are singed. What else if violence if not change? It is a fire, everything within it and around it are irrevocably different. The third Kadungganan, the First Chattel, walked upon the world and saw the hatred and Scourge that infested the world, singed in the wake of the Invincible Queen of Glaves, and sought to put it to rights, with his Steel. He changed the world with the strength of his Principle, but in so doing began the Cycles of Violence. Who are we to ignore wisdom? Wield the Flame of Want like a blade, along with Principle and Rumination, and only then shall you rend heaven and hell. As a Kadungganan, your Conviction is the primary reason why you live and fight. It will help you hold on, help you dictate what you want to do. An integral thing about Convictions is that they are liquid: they can change during Play, if it makes sense fictionally. What follows is a non-exhaustible list of Convictions. 1.

Curiosity. Seek something, always seeking. What is it? Even I do not know, but the pull of the unknown is enough to put the winds upon my sails.

2.

Survival. As the Archipelago drowns in the blood of its children, I will stay afloat, by iron and fire.

3.

Wealth. Servants, connections, heirloom wealth, and religion. Why else live if not to guarantee these things for me and mine?

4.

Valor. I fight to fulfill the prophecies and songs of eld: of a hero who must face the darkness, with nothing but a sword of light and a smile like the sun.

5.

Loyalty. Whether it be for their blood or for their heart, the reason I fight is to stay true to the one who owns my soul.

6.

Honor. What life is there to live, if it is not a life of virtue? Why wield a sword if not to uphold one’s principles? Why live, if there is nothing to live for but base animal instinct?

7.

Revenge. What goes around comes around. The circle is unbroken, and it brings with it the spike of judgment.

8.

Family. My family might be broken, or not one of blood, or like an arrow lost in the trade winds, but it is mine. And they are all I have.

9.

Spite. My soul churns and my spirit boils. I have been cast down like false idols. I shall rise again, and those that will suffer my scorn will know my name as I say it while impaling them with my blade.

10. Duty. There is something that I must do, and it is something that only I can do. Another might get it wrong. Who else could it be but me? 11. Knowledge. There is a future that we all can see. One only needs a light bright enough to see it. Walk with me, and let us attain wisdom. Let the path we forge be the right one. 12. Love. My heart bleeds, enslaved, and my soul is the lake. My passion courses like the rivers of Gubat Banwa for the one that holds my life in thrall. My tears flow in devotion.

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Warbands! Warbands are the parties of Kadungganan that wander and serve in Gubat Banwa. Warbands are important unities: they are consecrated with the Blood Compact Ritual: the act of bleeding into wine and then everyone drinking from it, all their bloods intermixed. Those in the Blood Compact must serve each other as if they were the closest of brothers with their livers connected.

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Warbands The First Kadungganan Warband was said to have been formed by the ancient First Chattel, who gathered together the first martial artists of the bloody Warring Realms, toiling under the Scourge, to strike back against the Invincible Queen of Glaves. The First Chattel found the practitioner of striking arts, of quick-movement, fast as winds: Kalakatri, Her Murderous Glory, who wielded the first kalis and summoned ebony lightning. Kalakatri did not join him, but instead, granted the First Slave her sword and shield. Then the First Chattel met the practitioner of protective arts, of shield protection, area denial, and forced movement: Sri Katun Sahaja, the Crumbling Boulder, who wielded the grand breastplate of defeated giants and deflected thunder. They went on to save the practitioner of vast striking, master of long-ranged arts, of swallow blades, of burning bullets: Lontok Alam Gantar, the Thundering Echoing Cannon, who wielded the first lantaka and was the crafter of firearms. They then had to persuade, up within a deep forest mountain, the great hexer, practitioner of the eldest witcheries, who could mold Scourge and make it into weapon: Dewasuhawa, the First Witch, who wielded the ancient palm leaf scrolls, summoner of both demons and gods. Finally, to complete the warband, they needed a warlord. A general who could lead them to victory. They found, sitting before a silent and stagnant, cold lake, the First Hari, the First God-King: The Conquering King Rajaraya Pintas. He who ventured into heaven and challenged The Sun Mother, he who ventured into heaven and stole the name Hari from the gods. The Conquering King was a demigiant: he was born from a giant mother and a bamboofolk father. His eyes were large, bulging, and his canines grew like tusks. He towered over the rest. But the First Kadungganan Warband banded together and defeated the Conquering King with diversity and understanding. With the defeat of the Conquering King, he agreed to join the Warband. And so The First Chattel went on to challenge the Invincible Queen of Glaves.

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KADUNGGANAN When creating your Kadungganan, think of how your Warband got together. A common answer is that the Warband was formed under the particular chief you serve, and that is the norm in the isles: blood compacts serving their chief faithfully is how chiefs create connections and establish power. However, some Kadungganan can choose to be wandering warriors, holding allegiance to nobody but to each other. This offers less protection in the violent world of Gubat Banwa, as the protection and comfort of being in a community is a luxury most people will want to afford.

Warband Natures

Once you know why your Warband got together, the entire Warband should have a single Blood Compact Want. This is a Want for the entire Warband, something they can build towards together. Like with personal Wants, this can change throughout the Kandu.

Choose 1 Kadungganan to be the datu, and every other Kadungganan is that datu’s warrior. The datu assigns the following to the other Kadungganan. Assign until all have a moniker:

Afterwards, choose a Warband Nature.

You can choose to roll a d10 to randomize.

The Datu’s Warriors [1-2] This is the most common Warband nature: a single datu surrounded by their warrior vassals. The datu goes on ventures and their vassals accompany them, sworn by oath and blood to follow their datu to the very end.

0 “You, [Kadungganan], are my Sword. Let your steel cut all, even me.” 0 “You, [Kadungganan], are my Shield. Let your ironwood stop the sky from crashing into us, and let your mesh catch the blades of the gods.” 0 “You, [Kadungganan], are my Anvil. Upon you the new world shall be born, a world better than this one.” 0 “You, [Kadungganan], are my Headwrap. Your command and your presence shall set this world aflame.” 0 “You, [Kadungganan], are my Dagger. May you do the things none of us can.”

Warband Name: The Forgotten Swords, Radiant Glory, Heritors of the Flame, Make one up

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KADUNGGANAN Wandering Mangubat [3-4]

4.

Bearer of Jamiyun Kulisa’s Thunderbolt. You are warriors that carry on the legacy of the great thunderbolt god, who once cleansed this land and bleached it with lightning. You travel and kill those that try to upset the natural order of things, to cleanse people of Scourges, and to facilitate rebellions against tyrants. All Kadungganan gain the Jamiyun Kulisa’s Thunderbolt Talisman: Interact with this to make your next air attack Overwhelming.

5.

Menders of Indira Suga. You are traveling scholarwarriors who follow the greatest god of the Isles, the Mother Sun Indira Suga. You have been deployed by Ba-e’s House of Wisdom to collect as many traditions and songs as you can and record or copy them onto copperplates, so that it will never be lost. The scholar-kings of Ba-e have realized that with the intensifying war and the coming Longest Year, these things must be copied, no matter how imperfect, to give them second winds. Gain Copperplate x3: Use to create a perfect copy of a song, poem, epic, or story that you hear. For every perfect copy you bring back to the House of Wisdom, gain a golden item.

Mangubat means warrior, so wandering mangubat means “Wandering Warrior.” This Warband nature is increasingly becoming more common in the Isles, as war intensifies and mercenarism has risen. Your Kadungganan have sworn a blood oath to each other, and now travel the isles with nothing but a boat to your name. Your Warband has 1 Boat. Name it. It is, right now, your only possession. It is rowed by a number of paddlers, each one lowly warriors of their own right. Each of you are well acquainted with one of the paddlers. Having a Boat in the Sword Isles means you are well off, and you can travel as freely as you can. The Boat is also considered a Place of Peace. Warband Name: Iron Owl, Quicksilver Falcons, Falling Star Swords, Make one up

Servants of Divinity [5-6] You are all part of a religious sect, or follow a particular god, and travel the islands carrying out the will of the one you follow. Tell us your faith: is it strong, or is it forced? Is there room for doubt, or are you at the end of your love? Choose from below which religious sect or god you follow. Each are coded with the five major polities: 1.

Paladni Santiago. Palm of Santiago. The exorcist branch of the Ashen Star Congregation, they have been turned and made into not just expungers of demons, but also hunters of heresies. Each Kadungganan of the Warband gains agua bendita: Interact with this to give your next attack against Undead, Ghosts, or Demons gain +1 Hit

2.

Kalis Bulan. Moon Sword. Warriors of Divine Striving that focus on the Striving of Purification, followers of Baginda Sumongsuklay, the Moon Goddess. They bring with them the breaking of the world: they will cleanse the world of all Scourge, until none are left, and all are pure. Each Kadungganan of the Warband gains Purification Oil: Interact with the oil to coat your weapon with it. Until the end of violence, all your attacks that bring Ghosts or Undead to 0 HP exorcize.

3.

Wardens of Hiyang. You are warriors that follow the holy Mastery of Paghihiyang, the Truth of Harmony with Nature, as taught by the Elders of Apumbukid. You scour the isles for signs of Di Hiyang, expunge Scourges, and work to heal settlements, so that atrocity may never happen again. All Kadungganan gain Cleansing Flowers: When you make a Cast that is related to spirit world, gain +1d.

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Warband Name: Hellraiders, The Inescapable Blades, The Halo of Indira Suga, Make one up

KADUNGGANAN Vaßals [7-8] Another common Warband nature, however none of the Kadungganan are datu. They choose a single datu that they serve, and they are immersed into that datu’s community. The datu treats them rightly, but the Warband must always travel and fight with the datu as they go on their travails and ventures. Choose or roll [1d10] to find out the Datu you serve. [1-2] Takdul Suwarga, the Crescent Moon Datu. A great chief who owns a powerful harbor principality and has a settlement that is sometimes visited by foreign junks and ships. Takdul Suwarga gained his power for slaying and stealing away all the chiefs’ settlements around his island, which was arrayed like a crescent. He is part of Gatusan’s 999 Chiefdoms, but he has recently converted to the Bulanan, the Lunar Faith, and is attached to the Sultana. Each Kadungganan gains the following consumable: [Knife Talisman: When you Cast to travel quietly or sneakily, gain +1d.] [3-4] Datu Sumangga, the Thunderlord. A rival to Takdul Suwarga, Datu Sumangga is one of the most heralded chiefs of the Sword Isles, having traveled to grand Baik Hu and returned with white ivories and majestic titles. His settlement, Kangsangga, is a well known harbor principality that is part of the 999 Chiefdoms, but very commonly works with Apumbukid to uphold Hiyang. If you follow Datu Sumangga, there is a chance that you fight for him with pride, as he is one of most benevolent datu in the isles. Whispers of the balyan say that he is preparing to ride a skybarge into heaven. Each Kadungganan gains the following consumable: [Lightning Lentil: Interact with this in combat to gain SPD+1 x2]

[7-8] Gavri of the East, Warrior Princess of North Virbanwa. A female lady to the north of Virbanwa, living upriver from a harbor principality. Her settlement, Silang-silang, is one of the largest producers of rice in the Virbanwan region, and Virbanwa has taxed her heavily because of this. They went from subsistence farming to bleeding the land dry. Gavri of the East, whose strength and beauty is unmatched, is a master of the itak, the chopping blade, and she will not stop. Whispers of the balyan say that Silang-silang rises, rises! O, how it will burn so bright! Aba, aba, Gavri of the East, reincarnation of Mother Madiyah, Saintess of Liberty! Deliver us from the grips of Virbanwa. Each Kadungganan gains the following item: [Tax Cards. Allows you entrance into Virbanwan forts without discrimination, but you will immediately be taxed when you do: you must give away 1 item that the taxors deem a commodity.] [9-10] Kalma, the Gun-King of Palita. A gunlord with a gun foundry east of Ba-e, too terribly close to the Kalangitan River that leads into Virbanwa’s bay. The settlement is a haven for blacksmiths, and its blacksmith sheds have been built to interconnect with each other. Stone walls have been erected to protect the place here, and the nobles have erected stone houses as well. Virbanwan and Ba-e cultures have intermixed within. Kalma, the Gun-King, is a demigiant, said to lock himself within his shed–a giant longhouse–for moons on end, trying to craft the perfect gun that can kill gods. Each Kadungganan gains the following item: [Bullet. If you kill someone with this bullet, that person will become undead in two full moons.] Warband Names: Faithful of Takdul, Bringer of Night, Gun-Princes, Make one up

[5-6] Tuwan Bulisik, Grand Elder of Venom. A datu that lives deep in the Pumirang Peninsula and speaks regularly with the spirits of that peninsula. They are not a harbor principality, but their name is well respected across The Sword isles. They fight with the greatest of Venoms, blessed by the Serpent Goddess Nagined, one of the Grand Earth Guardians, and ride into battle upon magnificent warhogs. They have mastered the art of bowand spear-fighting, and the secrets of guerrilla warfare. Whispers of the balyan say, however, that he is growing too large, that he is slowly becoming a serpent god himself, and that he is seeking to conquer Apu Dayaw, the Center of the World. Each Kadungganan gains the following consumable: [Udto Venom: Interact with this to bless your weapon with Udto Venom. When you next make a melee attack, also inflict Fray x2.]

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KADUNGGANAN Fighting Lords [9-10] Your Kadungganan are, in truth, chiefs of their own, following one of the five major polities’ God-Kings. This is the most difficult warband nature if you’re starting off, as it will most likely lead into intense politics within the political framework of The Sword Isles. However Fighting Lords gameplay is good for those that wish to engage in the intense interpolitical truth of the Sword Isles, and perhaps even influence it enough to change its trajectory. God-Kings are not the most correct term for them, but they are infused with divinity and command great swathes of people through their sheer command of their presence. What are they but not God-Kings? Choose or roll [1d10] to choose a God-King you are commanded by. [1-2] Raja Batara Ambasi, The God-King of The Painted Ones. Aba, aba, glory be to him! The flame haired Hari! The First Hari of Gatusan, the great God-King, he who shall raid the world! The 999 Chiefdoms unite underneath him and they are blessed, granted the future of a united Gatusan, with a Sword Isles revelling in the violence! The Hari shall descend upon the world and unite the disparate polities and take their violence to the world! The Warband gains the following item: Gold Agung. A gong, which can be carried around. When those of lower social class than the Kadungganan see the agung they will respect you. The agung is a sign of power. [3-4] Sultana Yarashgara XII, Her Majesty The Moon Consort, The Dark Moon. Aba, aba, glory to the Sultana! Her wisdom and knowledge slices through the night. She is the Dark Moon, consort to Baginda Sumongsuklay, the Moon that never leaves, the night-watcher when the Moon Goes Hunting. She gathers her stars and scatters them upon the world. Gubat Banwa shall know the light of the moon! With her lunar blades and wicked graceful masques she prepares her temples and cities and the various kings beneath her–BENEATH her!--and she will sunder this world, sheathe it in moonlight, and create a new one. The Fourteen Realms shall become a thing of the past, this wretched hive of violence. The Warband gains the following item: Lunar Spearscepter. A spear with a head copper turned into a crescent moon. Those that follow the Sultana will recognize your superiority. [5-6] Apu Dayaw, the God Within The Earth’s Center. Aba, aba, glory to the greatest god, the ancient of ancients. Apu Dayaw! You who are the heart of Gubat Banwa, skewered through by the great kalis of the Laughing Thunder God. You’ve had your revenge, beloved, dear God: the Laughing Thunder God is dead now, its tears becoming lightnings and its wails becoming the thunders. What now, great one? It shall take eight long Cycles for you to remove the sword from you. As the Eighth Star Era begins, you shall rise, and you shall cease all division, and thou shall bring return all things to pure, unadulterated, true, and peerless and perfect oneness.

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The Kadungganan gain the following item: Aurelian Waling-waling. A perfect flower of gold and crimson, five petals to showcase the five aspects of Apu Dayaw, God of the Cosmos. Dihiyang beings will immediately know you are there and be wary of you. [7-8] Batara Lakan Huwan Rekno, The Gumamela of the River Plains, the Flower of Passion, He Who Bleeds for the World’s Sins, the Herald of Yumao, The Fated Quietus. Aba, aba! Glory to the God-King of the Virbanwans, the slayer of Pale Kings, the repeller of alien invaders! However the damage is done, the Scourge festers in their hearts, they are spoiled and rotten to the core. O, Batara Lakan, arise our beloved Flower of Passion! Take upon yourself, upon your bleeding heart, the sins of the Virbanwans, and then lead us to the Millennium Kingdom of God! May the Ashen Star gleam brighter than the sun, may your sacrifice bring us unity, glory, conquest, peace! O, Batara Lakan! Bleed for us, and let our sins become your sword, and become as Makaubos, cleanse this world, and summon Makagagahum, the Almighty, and Virbanwa shall become the greatest Empire! Make us great, make us great. The Kadungganan gain the following item: Bloody Sidereal Rosary. Angels and other mechanical divinities will listen to your commands. They may not necessarily follow your orders, but they will listen. [9-10] Dayang Kalangitan, Sangpamegat of Ba-e, The Great Silent Singer, Perfection of Knowledge and Love, Whose Living Corpse Houses Gubat Banwa’s Secrets. Aba, aba! Glory to the God-Queen, heir to Urduja’s Legend, the Queen of Regents, the Water Dancer, the Gilded Heron Dancing Upon Water Lilies! There is no end to your sobriquets, for the end of names is death. The Dayang’s soul permeates all of Ba-e, sharing her wisdom and knowledge to all! She shall be as goddesses, great Seri Dewi Kalangitan, Queen of Heaven. She shall expand Bae, turn it into the only living Empire, the greatest Empire in the world, expanding Ba-e’s influence into every corner of the world until Ba-e is synonymous with power and wealth. The Dayang shall become Chakravala Chakravartin, or in the tongue of Holy Ba-e: Panginoong Pangkalahatan, God of Everything, and Ba-e shall never, ever, ever die. The Kadungganan gain the following item: Indira Suga Icon. An icon of the patron of the elder polity, now syncritized with the iconic Vajradewi, the Thunderbolt Goddess that protected Himayanon Nuwara (the syncretized form of Annuvara, the ascetic who founded Annuvaran thought, meaning Blossomed Annuvara), at the cusp of his enlightenment and achievement of Glory. Spirits will be wary of you, and listen to you. If they deem you harmonious, they will be exceedingly friendly. If not, then they will be exceedingly hostile. Warband Name: Swords of Makagagahum, Turners of the Wheel, Painted Kings, Make One Up

KADUNGGANAN

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Kadungganan Advancement: Legend Legend represents a Kadungganan’s combat prowess and ability, strength, skill, experience, fame, and rising glory. As they rise in Legend, they find more and more things about themselves, as well as the various Martial Arts of Gubat Banwa. Legend starts at 0 and ends at 8, wherein they are very capable of attaining Glory.

When you rise in Legend, you gain the following benefits:

Rising in Legend is tied to your exploits outside of Downtime and your deeds catching up to you during Downtime [p. 48.] Legend is cut into 3 Arcs. Each Arc represents a point in your Kadungganan’s Glory Path, representing important segments of their progression. These are cut so that one can easily visualize a Kadungganan’s progression as they travel and survive in the Sword Isles.

0 Gain an Anting-Anting at Legend 1, 3, 5, 7. You can gain Anting-Anting out in the world. You have 2 Anting-Anting Slots at Arc 1, 3 at Arc 2, and 4 at Arc 3. You cannot equip more Anting-Anting than you have Slots.

0 Gain 2 new Techniques from any Discipline. 0 Add +1 to any of your Alignments (max 6). 0 Add 1 point to your Martial Abilities (max 7).

You can keep playing past Legend 8, though you do not gain more Legends. Instead, every time you would grow in Legend, you instead gain a new Technique. Keep in mind your Equipped Techniques.

Legend Arcs: The Glory Path Arc 1 - Earth

Arc 3 - Heaven

Arc 1 is known as the Arc of Earth, because the Kadungganan still have their feet upon the ground. Arc 1 encompasses Legend 0-2. At this stage, the Kadungganan have trained their skills but don’t have much combat experience of their own. They must go out there and make their names known. They can be performing the following:

Arc 3 is known as the Arc of Heaven. At this point, the Kadungganan are poised to fulfill that fabled verse: Seize heaven’s thunderclaps. Arc 3 encompasses Legend 6-8, and showcases them not at the end of their venturing days but rather, at their peak. They are on the cusp, perhaps, of Glory: liberation from the wheel of violence, manifesting in visages of God-Kings and Devil-Witches, attainment of the demeanors of actual buddhas and bodhisattvas. Some examples of what the Kadungganan are meant to do are:

0 Working for various Datu as free roaming mercenaries. 0 Performing various jobs for the datu of their own settlement. 0 Traveling across the lands accruing wealth and legend that they did not have. 0 Trying to break free from tyrannical overlords.

Arc 2 - Lightning Arc 2 is known as the Arc of Lightning, because the Kadungganan are rising above and taking on various, more challenging situations. Arc 2 encompasses Legend 35. They cannot sit idly by, their inherent Gahom pushes them forward, their innate spiritual power calls them to perform greater and greater deeds, or else die in the cycle of violence. Arc 2 can even be split up into its own Mini-Arcs with how much venturing the Kadungganan are meant to do. Some examples of what they might be doing are: 0 Establishing their own community, no matter how small. 0 Fighting against powerful datu with large settlements or towns. 0 Venturing deep into hitherto untraveled paths, like Deep Forests, the Floor of the Ocean, the Cave to the Underworld, and even the Clouds. 0 Making a name for themselves as their titles are writ across the isles, and more and more datu chase after them.

At Arc 2, a Kadungganan must have an Arc 2 Form, known as their Refined Form. At this point, something about them has changed physically, representing the rising of their own abilities, and the things they have faced in Arc 1. They should also get a new name, which can be a sobriquet or title, but will always reflect their exploits during the past Arc.

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0 Running their own settlements that can become Mandala of their own right. 0 Wrestling with legendary monsters and creatures of myth, preventing Celestial Eaters from eating either the Sun or the Moon. 0 Fighting with Gods and bringing them to heel, or maybe even becoming Gods themselves by dying in glorious combat. 0 Enacting long-lasting change upon Gubat Banwa, perhaps even contributing to the end or even ending the Cycles of Violence.

At Arc 3, a Kadungganan must have their final aesthetic change, known as their Perfected Form. They should have changed drastically from who they were at Arc 1, and this represents their skills at its utmost peak. Here they are meant to match gods and goddesses with their visages, manifestations of wrathful deities. At Arc 3, a Kadungganan gains a final name, one which they will be remembered for the rest of time.

KADUNGGANAN Advancement Table Alternative Advancement: Combat Legend An alternative advancement that you can choose to do if you don’t want to track marking. Combat Legend advancement is simple: after every 5 Violences, raise Legend by 1. This can be used if you have fewer Violences in particular in your campaign as well, so that Violences can be seen as milestones.

Base Form

Refined Form

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Perfected Form

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Disciplines All Kadungganan are asdang haniti, (literally, hand-tohand combat experts) masters of martial arts. Disciplines are systems of fighting, martial arts, spread throughout the Sword Isles. There are exactly One Million and One Fighting Sciences in The Sword Isles alone. Very common among the Arts are familial strifes, grudges between martial arts that are similar and/or have deep-seated histories, as well as the act of keeping particular martial arts a secret from outsiders. The names for these Disciplines are very often the practitioner of their Martial Art. The irst martial arts were invented by the gods at the beginning of time, when they resorted to war to arbitrate their concerns like the hypocrites they are. When they eventually taught the ways of violence to mortals, it became known as the Balahala Hinagiban Agham, the Godly Weapon Science. From here the first martial art arose, violence taught by nature itself: Asdang.

Discipline Traits Each Discipline has their Style (their preferred role in combat). Choose 1 from the Weapon list and 2 from the Armor list (these are non-exhaustive, you can use any weapon or armor you wish to wear, but must begin with 1 Weapon and 2 Armor pieces). These are purely for fiction. Then it will list down the 2-3 traits that define that Discipline. You always have access to these traits as long as that’s your active Discipline. Then, each Discipline has 3 Inflict Violences that you have access to as long as you’re that Technique, but which you lose access to once you switch out of that Discipline. The 3 Inflict Violences reinforce their Style and are considered their fundamental techniques, and are commonly used for attacking, but can also be used for support or movement. The Basic Techniques of a Discipline is simply the basic techniques found in all martial arts filtered through the philosophies of that particular style. Afterwards, each Discipline has 5 Techniques, which one must learn from masters.

Techniques Techniques are ancient battle arts and the most advanced teachings of a Discipline. In general, the order it is written should also be the order you enact the effects of each written Technique. Each Discipline has 5 Techniques. Each Technique evolves from the generic basic techniques that can be found from all across every martial art. Therefore, when you rise in Legend, you learn 2 Techniques from any Discipline. When you read a Technique, the order in which they are written is the order in which you apply the effects.

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Asdang began the tradition of Guros passing down what they know to learners. "Balahala Hinagiban Kaalamdag" is now a spiritual rite, a principle, a fabled title that all aspire to. It is the science and tradition, revered and favored, taught from ancestors to descendants. All Disciplines are born from the Godly Weapon Science. The combat arts are known differently for each of the Polity, although they all mean the same thing. 0 Virbanwa calls their martial arts Sining Pandigma. 0 Gatusan calls their martial arts Paagi sa Gubat. 0 Akai calls their martial arts Agama Pagbunu. 0 Ba-e calls their martial arts Pagdahas. 0 Apumbukid calls their martial arts Kaqalim Matarem.

Techniques are affected by Banes unless otherwise noted. If a Technique lets you move 3 spaces, but you are Immobilized, you cannot move those 3 spaces. Additionally, techniques are inherently combat moves. However, you can use a Technique outside of combat if it applies. You can only use a Technique in this manner once per scene. Each Technique will have their Prerequisite Technique (Prereq) listed. You must have first learned the proper Prerequisite Technique/s to learn that Technique.

Enlightenment Techniques Enlightenment Techniques are the most powerful Techniques of a Discipline, and can only be learned from a master once every Technique has been learned from that Discipline. Once every Technique is learned, the Enlightenment is immediately learned and can be used, even if that isn’t your current Discipline. Enlightenment Techniques exemplify the virtues and philosophies of a particular discipline. However, they require a lot of stamina and a perfect timing. Therefore, Enlightenment Techniques once used cannot be used again until after a Downtime, to recuperate the required energies to use the Enlightenment again. Finally, when going into Violence, you can only ready one Enlightenment (if you have multiple). Many Enlightenments also have passive effects (effects that happen even without using Beats for it). You cannot stack two Enlightenments: you must choose a single Enlightenment that you are internalizing when going into violence. You cannot use any other Enlightenment other than that. Finally, once a Kadungganan has used an Enlightenment, no other Kadungganan can use their Enlightenment any more for that Violence.

KADUNGGANAN Equipped Techniques A Kadungganan is greatly skilled, however they can only keep so many techniques at the forefront of their mind. Every Kadungganan meditates upon the Ten-Armed God, a god who wields 10 weapons. For the Kadungganan to be in perfect equilibrium with their violent form, they can only focus on 10 Techniques at a time to use in combat. Therefore, even if they know more than 10 Techniques (which they most probably will by Legend 5), they can only “equip 10 Techniques of them into Violence. Before leaving Downtime, a Kadungganan must “equip” 10 Techniques: choose 10 Techniques that you will be using for . Imagine these Techniques to be the ones they meditated upon, practiced, and perfected during Downtime, while they’re “rusty” with their other Techniques. Therefore, they can only use those 10 Techniques at a time. They will only be able to swap them around at the next Downtime. This is to limit Kadungganan power, as well as to make combat a bit easier to parse (too many Techniques will be a hell of a mental load). There is an “11th” slot, which is simply the slot for the Enlightenment. You can equip any Enlightenment you already have, regardless of your Discipline, but you can only equip one.

Equipped Techniques

Enlightenment

Discipline Styles All Kadungganan begin their path learning a Discipline, one of the many families and systems of martial arts across the Sword Isles. Each one has a certain name, but each one is commonly classified to one of the 5 styles depending on how they approach their art and how they deal in violence. The Styles are both origins and categorizations. Sentinel Style describes martial arts that focus on defending, whether it be themselves or others, and having water buffalo tenacity. They have the capability to mitigate the most damage but tend to be slower and more ponderous. Sentinels laugh in the face of Raiders. Raider Style describes martial arts that focus on movement, fluidity, and damage. Their techniques tend to focus on dealing as much damage as possible and moving as much as possible, although since they mostly do their damage from up close, they are horribly vulnerable to being locked down and focused on. Raiders laugh in the face of Sharpshooters. Sharpshooter Style describes martial arts that focus on long-ranged attacks, dependable damage, and area effects. Their techniques tend to focus on attacking fighters from afar, and usually more accurately than others. Since they focus on these techniques, they tend to move slower than other Styles and a lot of their abilities lose a lot of efficacy at close ranges. Sharpshooters laugh in the face of Witches. Witch Style describes martial arts that focus on eviscerating attacks, area denial, and condition-application. Their abilities tend to stop movement, or inflict persistent damage, or force movement upon others, and they are good at ripping away armor. However they have low defenses in exchange, some of the lowest in the game, to compensate for their wicked debilitations. Witches laugh at Sentinels. Medium Style describes versatile martial arts that focus on supporting allies and doing esoteric effects that always force interesting situations to happen to the battlefield. Their abilities tend to heal allies, give Precision and damage reductions, enable their actions, or give allies benefices for doing things that help the Discipline. Their Traits tend to be average across the board, they do not inherently laugh at any of the other Styles.

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Choosing a Discipline When you first create a Kadungganan, you must choose a Discipline: the martial art that you focus in on that contributes to the river of blood that flows through The Sword Isles’s veins. Choosing a Discipline might be daunting: there are 25 Disciplines, spread across the 5 Polities. Read on to be guided. Each Discipline is born from a particular Polity. That does not mean a Kadungganan must come from that Polity, just that it was created within it. Disciplines being in various different Polity is the norm now. For example, the Sarimanok Knight was born in Akai, but they are just as common now as mounted cavalry in Virbanwa. To help you understand them, let’s talk about the five major polities poised to change the Sword Isles forever. Afterwards, the Disciplines will be listed according to their Mandalas in the following pages.

Gatusan: The Painted Warriors of the Endleß Sea

Apumbukid: The Stewards of the Center of the World

Raiders and warlords, they seek to expand their reach and bring all the people of The Sword Isles under their jurisdiction, and soon they will raid the world.

Defenders, caretakers, and sentinels. Those of the Confederation seek only one thing: to protect the Holy Mountain of Apu, the Central Pillar of the Earth, from all conquerors, within The Sword Isles and without. They have since adopted an aggressive stance on Stewardship, traveling to the sacred places in hinterlands to protect them from expansion.

Gatusan Disciplines are built with violence and speed in mind. They are warriors that split the sea. As much as possible, Disciplines that can survive in the undulations of the waves arise and thrive in Gatusan. Buwaya Lancer. Sentinels that ride in upon mighty giant crocodiles steeds to change the battlefield. They and their buwaya stand upon the battlefield like a rock, barring movement, locking down those that dare move away from them, and controlling the square that is theirs, as the river lords that they are. Kawal. A frontline Sentinel that specializes in staying in the front and never moving, protecting allies, and preventing attacks. Garbed head to toe in armor-raiment of the water buffalo, they are charged to protect the isles with their shield, weapon, and tenacity. And they will hold the line. Mangangayaw. Raiders and fighters that scour the seas and raid other war ships and shoreline settlements without fear or reservation. They fight to maintain a raiding high, a thrill that carries them to perform better, stronger, quicker. Sword Poet. A mid-range Sentinel that protects allies by being supremely mobile, moving upon the winds of their songs, and supporting allies. A warrior who fights with peerless weapon dancing and weeping verses and song to twist and wrench the souls of those that would inflict violence. Warrior Balyan. A spirit Medium that provides healing and buffing with Idols and the power of the gods. Trained to fight in spiritual violence for this never-ending war. They specialize in offering healing and strengthening incantations and spirits.

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Apumbukid Disciplines are concerned with stewardship and harnessing of the universe, as well as hewing closely to tradition and ritual. They were, of course, built with the protection of holy places in mind. Their might is in the spiritual, in what is purely natural. Their Disciplines typically have good relations with the gods. Death Dancer. Hypocritical Raider Warrior-Dervishes that have eschewed weapons to become hypocrisy incarnate: one who uses the strength gleaned from Hiyang to kill. They have mastered themselves and have become one with nature, reaching levels of enlightenment impossible for others, but has eschewed transcendence for violence. They internalize this bodhisattva-twilight state, learning to use multiple stances at the same time. Headtaker. Raider Masters of the ritual art of killing, and practitioners of the holy tradition of decapitation. Warriors that preserve yet at the same time blaspheme the holy rite of killing. Makinaadmanon. Powerful Witches that apply curses, heal allies, and destroys warbands with their Kinaadman: the enlightened wisdom that lets one manipulate the world through the use of proper incantations and godly mudras. Tigpana. Sharpshooter Archers who master the art of sniping enemies from afar from vantage points, shadow, and bamboo. A useful and even necessary component to war in both the sea and the hinterlands. Warspeaker. Witch Masters of the mystic mentala and razor logic, who use their words to break enemies as well as to manipulate the illusion of reality.

KADUNGGANAN Akai: The Conquering Monarchy

Virbanwa: The Imperial Mandate

Strivers that will never be defeated, knights and holy lunar warriors. They will conquer all of The Sword Isles in their own way. All will be one under the Moon Goddess.

Imperialists, exorcists, and conquerors. They suffered the sword of colonialism and lived to tell the tale. Now they use that same sword upon their allies in the isles.

Akai Disciplines train with conquest and domination at their heart. They are faithful, and their Disciplines reflect their steadfastness and hunger for control.

Virbanwan Disciplines express power of numbers. They work best when they are marching in step with others, as conformity is hammered into their souls. Virbanwan Disciplines are built with the express goal of working in step with others, so that dominion may be achieved.

Beast Hunter. Hunting and Trap Witches. Peerless Control hunters who hunts with a pack of feral hunting witch dogs who can climb trees with their razor sharp claws and shed them to keep them eversharp. Using a variety of traps, nets, and pits to capture your prey, the hunter never lets go of the enemy. Martyr. A severe front line Raider that thrives in the midst of combat, outnumbered and outgunned, with the cards stacked against them. With their sacrosanct ravaging, they embrace death to bring triumph. These berserkers, anointed with prayers of a pandita lunar bishop and with the help of some sugapa--a root crop like opium-transcend into an unstoppable wrath for the Moon Goddess. Sarimanok Knight. Valiant Sentinels who ride upon a giant rainbow-feathered rooster known as a sarimanok. Through rapid mounted combat they dominate the battlefield, protect allies, and run down enemies. Strifesinger. Sonorous Mediums, warrior-singers that sing and use myriad instruments to bolster their allies and grant respite in a war-torn land. Swordfish Cavalier. A Sharpshooter coral knight upon a balu, a flying swordfish, that specializes in summoning water, firing from afar, and jousting through enemy ranks with shearing blades of water and wind.

Baril Witch. A Sharpshooter gunwitch that specializes in pressuring areas with firepower. A keen-eyed sharpshooter with a strange occult knowledge and skill to guide the hand of their bullets. They hamper and damage through the use of their ability to reload their arquebuses and flintlocks, and fuse their bullets with elemental energy. Bladeweaver. An ironwood and silk clad Medium that quickens allies, sharpens their blades, and extends their range by using their soul to control their weapons without having to touch them. They harness mentala, magical formulas written on bamboo scrolls and then memorized, and then uttered, which enchant their swordplay and lets them achieve sorcerous enlightenment. Murderglave. A melee magick Sentinel that sacrifices themselves to protect their allies. Their style is brutal. A warrior taught in the ways of the ancient timawa of Mahadiwa Kalakatri Duumanun, the Goddess of Murder. By channeling the Mahadiwa, you harness your passions and turn them into constructs and weapons of darkness, giving yourself wholly to your cause of protecting others. Senapati. A melee warlord Medium that gets stronger if they are in the front lines with their allies, and uses their allies as their weapon. A strong and unwavering commander who bellows encouragement and orders in the thick of combat, facing the frontlines alongside their allies clad in gold and elephant hide. Sword Saint. A Sharpshooter who has internalized the Blade Gospel that can control the battlefield with slashes, little control zones that get expended. A priest dedicated to St. Gattalim the Saint Intercessor of Swords. They can cut down mortals, but they cannot cut anything else. Their souls have been sharpened into blades, and thus they cannot truly love, lest they bisect them.

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KADUNGGANAN Ba-e: Ascendancy of the Sangpamegat Tinkerers and scholars. The Kingdom of Ba-e, united under a single chosen ruler known as the Sangpamegat, seeks to preserve the old ways, the ancient scriptures, sorceries, epics, and potteries. They trade far and wide, gathering gold and other culture, while cultivating their own lust for knowledge and artifice. They seek to unite all of The Sword Isles under a single banner, to establish a burgeoning merchant state that can trade with all the corners of the world. Ba-e Disciplines are, just like the Kingdom they hail from, eccentric and subversive. Despite being the oldest of the Major Polities, they also are the ones that invent new ways of seeing the world, new names for natural sciences. Past and future, it belongs to them. They puncture holes in Hiyang and find new ways to express their enlightenment. Flower Balyan. A Floral Witch that uses the sampaguita, the death jasmine, to converse with the dead and animate corpses of enemies. An offshoot of the balyan godchannelers who have learned the rituals of death. In the isles, Flowers are a major symbol of the dead. Heavenspear. A heaven-scourging Raider that understands the lie of the earth, and moves through the air with extreme maneuverability. Through their heaven-rending arts they take to the skies upon spiritual arts and kites to bring the truth like a spear unto the world: there is no throne in heaven. Mender. A combat Medium that stays in the frontlines to support their allies with prepared poultices and readied healing items, granting them a large number of spiritual modifications through mastery of herbalism and spiritual semiotic. Starshooter. Sharpshooter experts of the sport of Sipa, using their advanced knowledge of the art to inflict violence, making even the smallest mote of dust to the very stars themselves into a deadly ball projectile. Warsmith. A warrior-blacksmith Witch who has taken to the battlefield to show their ingenuity and prowess, crafting walls and weapons. With their violent innovations, they use ancient lore to bring forth godly artifacts.

A Note on Refluffing Refluffing pertains to changing the flavor text and lore/ fiction of something. For example, you might want to change the giant weapon of the Murderglave into a quarterstaff. That’s fine, and sometimes even encouraged to be able to play the character concepts that you want! Just keep in mind the philosophies of Gubat Banwa and hew close to them so that you do not trip over any unwanted problems or any problems that might hinder your play.

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KADUNGGANAN Discipline Traits

Lords of the Seas, Friends of the Revered, Unstoppable Juggernauts of Rivers Buwaya Lancers are crocodile guardsmen, often considered a threat upon the entirety of The Sword Isles. Borne from the need to travel quickly across both water and land, an ancient warrior tamed one of the first buwaya, which is the native term for crocodile. It has since become the name for buwaya that are bred to become mounts: tall, long-legged crocodiles that are fast and have a huge amount of stamina. Buwaya Lancer arose during the end of the Seventh Moon Era. To escape capture from powerful Put’wan cataphracts, which rode upon great six-legged steeds, the great Laksamana Tuhon Langkasingbangis and his reduced war band of a measly 12 managed to escape by speaking to a buwaya and the buwaya accepting his oath, remembering that ancient warrior that tamed the first buwaya. Thus, twelve buwaya managed to ride down the river and boarded their biray to escape to the distant land of Sonyoh. There they honed their ability in buwaya taming, creating saddles and tasselled bardings, made of gold and mother-of-pearl and bamboo and more. Rajahnate Buwaya are painted in a same manner the warriors were, although not tattooed. In this way their bond becomes tighter, stronger. The Buwaya Lancer have since become one of the most wellknown Disciplines across The Sword Isles. It has become a stable cavalry, one used extensively by Rajahnate polities that could afford it, and the Akai Sultanate to combat the cavalry of the other polities. Buwaya Lancer were called thus because they were made to break the enemy’s frontline. In The Sword Isles archipelago warfare, this would not be the end of an enemy’s formation, as war was waged not through formations but through force of will. However, the ability to break the ranks through Buwaya Lancer is a very effective tactic that has huge effects upon the moralization of warfare. Buwaya Lancers are usually trained to use spears (bangkaw) or tridents (salapang), but other kinds of weapons are just as viable. Therefore, Buwaya Lancers are much wanted in Kadungganan parties, as they are made to crush the frontline and stay there, using crocodile and military armament to crush the opposition. Even in land, the crocodile beast can gallop, quick and unstoppable. The Crocodile is one of the most wellrespected beasts: they are very often considered to be avatars of the ancestors themselves, and are treated like Grandfathers—that is, with utmost care and respect. They are the great masters of both sea and land, protectors of the places where water and earth meet. If you become a Buwaya Lancer, ask yourself why you ride upon the greatest of spirits only to bring violence. You are one with a beast known both for death and for the ancestors. You say you protect, so why do you let your buwaya rip that man’s head off? Why do you stab while atop your enslaved holy power? Why do you think you are as great as the gods themselves?

10 HP - Style: Sentinel Weapon: Tridents, harpoons, fishing rods, shields Armor: Tattoos, Cotton-padded armor, silk jackets

Crocodile Rider

As a Buwaya Lancer, you might be mounted upon a crocodile, or some other similar draconic creature, though you can choose to not have a mount at all, and simply channel the spirit of a crocodile.

1/Fulmination, when a fighter leaves a square adjacent to you, you may inflict violence on them for free. Additionally, when fighters collide with you, you do not suffer Hits.

River God

Crocodiles are hardy and they are not hampered at all by water and hard to cross terrain. Even more, their tails work as powerful weapons. When used in tandem with spears, buwaya lancers are a force to be reckoned with.

When you Stride, choose 1 adjacent fighter. You may pull them with you, maintaining adjacency as you stride.

Snapping Dragon

Even in land, the crocodile beast can gallop, quick and unstoppable. The Crocodile is one of the most well-respected beasts: they are very often considered to be avatars of the ancestors themselves, and are treated like Grandfathers—that is, with utmost care and respect. They are the great masters of both sea and land, protectors of the places where water and earth meet.

When you Pull any fighter to a square adjacent of you, inflict 1 Hit, 1/Fulmination.

Inflict Violences Spearing Dragon [1]: Strike with a trident or other polearm. Make a Melee Water Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 3, then pull 1. Barreling Dragon [1 Beat]: Barrel forward with a sudden burst of speed. Rush 1. If you collide with a target, inflict 1 Hit on the target, you do not suffer any Hits, and inflict Push 1 on them. Fishing Rod [1 Beat]: Pull out a fishing rod, wrap it around a target, and then sling them to the side. Slide 1 target in range 3, and then Mark the target indefinitely. When your mark makes an attack that does not include you as a target, consume the mark to inflict Pull 2 on them.

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Buwaya Lancer Techniques Dragon Seizes The Sky Your muscles and strength is unparalleled. You can wrestle with the Gods in the Sky. Crowns shall slip from heads unworthy. Your spear shall impale the gods upon high, and all shall bow down at your feet. This tenacity and boldness helped Ramasa keep their strength even after the advent of the Issohappans.

Spend 1 Beat to rush 1 and then seize a target. While seized, they cannot leave your adjacency. If you move, they are forcibly moved, as long as they keep adjacency. They must spend 2 Beats to break free of the seize. +1 Beat: Rush 3 instead. +1 Beat: Inflict 1 True Hit when you seize the target.

Spend 1 Beat to exude brilliant majesty. Take on the Draconic Majesty Stance until the end of your next Fulmination. While in this stance, every fighter that ends their Fulmination within burst 3 of you is pulled 1.

Draconic Majesty Stance 1. Woe, woe be to those that would dare defy the Buwaya! 2. That ancient god of the rivers, that dragon of the lake. 3. Woe, and calamity. - Daknunuk Sutla 98

+1 Beat: Inflict Provoke on all enemies in burst 2 when you enter into the stance. +1 Beat: Gain Stability while you’re in the stance.

Dragon Lair Creation Pamaagi 1. The Buwaya brings with it hell. 2. And with a bellow, it brings others with it. - Makara Exalt Sutla 128 Crocodiles are venerated like ancestor gods in the isles, and to have one fight with you is a sign of respect and prestige. They are sometimes seen as psychopomps, and that is exactly what you will be doing: bringing your enemies to hell.

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Spend 1 Beat to rise up and then crash down: bring all squares in burst 1 down by 1 Elevation. (Example: +2 Elevation becomes +1 Elevation, 0 Elevation becomes -1 Elevation). All enemies in the burst suffer a stack of Unbalance. You cannot bring a square past -3 Elevation this way. +1 Beat: Increase the burst to Burst 2. +1 Beat: Turn the square you’re on into a Chasm, then Rush 2.

KADUNGGANAN Makara Meditation An ancestral god in your hands. You summon your holy reverence, and your buwaya strikes down, tapping the springs beneath the earth. Waters erupt up, the waters of the deep. This was a technique crafted by Laksamana Tuhon Langkasingbangis himself to engrave a new river to stop the chase of ancient Put’wan Cataphracts. The river still exists, known as Tuhonsuba, and has since become a tributary to Inagos. The diwata that have arisen from it are in constant war with the diwata of Inagos.

Prereq: Dragon Seizes The Sky, Draconic Majesty Stance, Dragon Lair Creation Pamaagi Spend 1 Beat to strike the earth and bring up the waters of the deep: choose a square in range 3 and turn that into water terrain. +1 Beat: Choose a Path 6, turning that into water terrain and inflicting 1 Hit on every target in the line. +1 Beat: Every target on the square when you turn it into water terrain suffers Water Vulnerability x3.

Death Roll Style

Prereq: Makara Meditation

An ancestral god in your hands. You summon your holy reverence, and your buwaya strikes down, tapping the springs beneath the earth. Waters erupt up, the waters of the deep. This was a technique crafted by Laksamana Tuhon Langkasingbangis himself to engrave a new river to stop the chase of ancient Put’wan Cataphracts. The river still exists, known as Tuhonsuba, and has since become a tributary to Inagos. The diwata that have arisen from it are in constant war with the diwata of Inagos.

+1 Beat: You can target an adjacent target instead.

Enlightenment: Makara Seeming Makara are the gods of the crocodiles of the Isles, the great vessels of ancient heroes and demigods who waged war to seize wealth. Makara are said to be the first of the crocodiles, and are the original dragons: their spiritual pairing created the three draconic forms that many gods take on: Naga, the Flying Water Guardian Spirits. Pythons, the Deep Earth and Tree Serpent. And finally, the Crocodile, the Sea and Soil Dragon. It is said that a Makara encircles the entire cosmos, all of Kalibutan, and in the end times when violence has consumed like a bleeding, threading flame, it will consume all of reality.

Spend 1 Beat to bite and roll against a helpless target: make a Melee Water Bravery Attack vs 1 close target. If the target has Slow, Stop, Unbalance, or Seize this gains Overwhelming. +1 Beat: Rush 3 before the attack, letting you move through enemies. Any enemy you move through suffers Unbalance.

toughness: raise your base hp by 2. for 1 beat at strike 3+, you may turn your mount into a makara, legendary dragoncrocodile. gain the following benefits for the rest of violence: +1 brv, +1 fth, +2 spd, +2 pos, stability, and regen. finally, you ignore all terrain and elevation, and become size 2.

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KADUNGGANAN Masters of the Eight Direction Guardian, Disciplines of the Lakapati, Protectors of the World, not Kings Kawal are faithful shields and defenders of their communities. They are the greatest paragons among the Kadungganan: they exemplify all the virtues of a Kadungganan and then more, protecting their fellow Kadungganan by attracting the attention of the enemy and stopping them in their tracks. Clad in a mix of metal chainmail and kalabaw hide armor, kalabaw horn breastplate, and hardwood shields, the Kawal is an indomitable force in the battlefield, controlling the battlefield with superior movement, tactics, weaponmastery, and their force of will. Kawal only get their prestigious name after undergoing a grueling training process, which weeds out those that cannot handle the pressures and responsibilities of a kawal. Using techniques that synthesize native forms as well as learned arts from Madaki and Naksuwarga, the Kawal excels in keeping their allies safe while staying alive. Rajahnate Datu employ techniques of the Kawal, and more often than not they do it so that they can keep their people safe. Akai have deployed their own contingent of Satariya, which use giant ceremonial blades instead of spears to guard their allies. Apumbukid is known to train entire settlements in this art as well, the most well known one being Saginda in Pumirang, where they’re trained by ancient guardian spirits in deep underground coral river caves. In the ancient of days, the Guardians of the Eight Directions (Ang Diwatasin Walong Tudlo) came together and taught their Art to mortals, because they had foreseen that they would need their help to defend the world. Thus was the Eight Direction Guardian Art born, which practices and perfects the manifestation of the Lakapati, the combined form of the Eight Guardian Gods. Imawasura the Guardian Lord of the Southeast, of Pagodas and Fortunes and Jades, wields a spear is as long as ten thousand palms of Rayasaiwa (whose palm measures fifteen universes), and is named Tudlo, and this spear has become the symbol for all Kawal. It is said that Imawasura was the one that affixed the eight directions. "A kawal must know that they are the wall, and for the wall to be effective, the swords must crash against it,” says Apumbukid Datu Daya. If you choose to take up the mantle of the Kawal, say who you pledge your allegiance to and why, and why your faith in them has led you to making sure that they will never be harmed. The Shield is a symbol of strength. In the Sword Isles, it is not common to stay and fight for your settlement when being raided. However, in the event of a revenge raid, where the warriors will try to slay your datu as a ritual offering to their own ancestors, only the shield can stay the tide. Either they die, or the raiders fail.

Discipline Traits 10 HP - Style: Sentinel Weapons: Treasured Spears, large barongs, giant panabas, kalasag, taming Armors: War Hats, Buffalo Cuirasses, Bamboo Legplates, Plated Tassets

Perfect Lokapala Shield

You meditate and perfect the movements of the eight perfect guardians. Guard all those around you.

You have the Lokapala Aura that extends to every square within burst 2 of you. Any fighter that makes an attack that does not include you as a target only generates Hits on a 7+, even with Sharpness. Marked targets are not affected by this aura.

Lakapati Guardian

You meditate upon the guardian deities of nature and perfect the guardian art that they have taught.

When an enemy in your Lokapala Aura leaves a square, rushes, or makes an attack that does not include you or another fighter that has a Lokapala Aura, you inflict 1 Hit on them. 1/Fulmination.

Gajasangkra’s Meditation

Gajasangkra is the Guardian Lord of the Northwest, which is the land of constant monsoons and whirlpools. If she doesn’t guard that place with her thousand hands, the seas will drain into wine and milk, killing all Folk in Gubat Banwa. And so she keeps the sea from overflowing, and so does she suffer the corroding chaos of wine.

When you are forcibly moved, you may roll a d8. On a 4+, you ignore that forced movement.

Inflict Violences Shield Bash [1]: Slam with a shield. Make a Melee Earth Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target, push 1 [+1 per 7+ on the attack teeth], then Rush 1 per square pushed. Skewer [1 Beat]: Impale with a longspear. Make a Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs all targets in line 2. Shield Charge [1 Beat]: Raise your shield and charge forward. Rush 3 in a straight line. If you move into any enemy’s square, push them 1 + number of rush left. Then gain 1 Defend.

Ask why you give your life to them. Is loyalty your virtue or your sin? Why do you break the sky for someone who might not do the same for you?

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Kawal Techniques Kitasamba’s Shield "Ever ready. That is what kawal must be. Now bring your weapons up. We have a datu to save." - War Leader Katuna, as he goes on to save a hostaged datu from a rival banwa. Kitasamba is the Guardian Lord of the Northeast, who guards those that have been untouched and are pure. His symbol is a newly blossomed passion flower, but his weapon is that of a hibiscus spiked shield.

Spend 1 Beat to raise your guard and take on the Guardian Stance until you make an attack. While in this Stance, all 8s on your Defense Teeth generates 2 Defends. +1 Beat: Every 8 also lets you Rush 1 after the attack. +1 Beat: Convert every 1-3 on an attacker’s Attack Teeth against you into Hits against them.

Krishawisu’s Hammer An art made famous by the Kawal of Apumbukid. A giant swing of both weapon and shield, flowing about so that it strikes all in your path, imitating the lotus of the great god Krishawisu. Lord Fahandu of the River Polity Vahansima used this to cut swathes through undead warriors to save his settlement. Krishawisu is the Guardian Lord of the North, who guides every direction. He is asleep, it is said, within a frozen lotus, and will only awake if chaos has subsumed Gubat Banwa. Others say that Krishawisu came down to the world and formed it into a lotus: “Imagine the Sea of Wine as exactly that, a Sea of Wine, and the various universes as Lotuses floating upon that Sea of Wine. We are simply in one of those, now.”

Prereq: Kitasamba’s Shield Spend 1 Beat to surge forward and strike: Rush 1 and then make a Melee Earth Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target. +1 Beat: Inflict Provoke on any 1 target of the attack. +1 Beat: Change the range to all targets in blast 3.

Prereq: Kitasamba’s Shield

Rayasaiwa’s Vigil Rayasaiwa is the Guardian Lord of the Center, and is also said to be the Supreme and sometimes the Absolute, He Who Holds All In His Palm. It is said that Gubat Banwa’s Cosmos, Kalibutan, balances upon the tip of his trident, Kadaut Rishud.

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Spend 1 Beat to gain a Vigil Token. When an adjacent ally suffers an attack, spend the charge to swap places with the ally and then suffer the attack. Spend +1 Beat to rush 3. If you end movement adjacent to an ally, gain Block 1.

KADUNGGANAN

Imawasura’s Lance A technique used by the Kawal of Akai and Sinuku to crash through enemy front lines, which were very often arranged in a fierce and unbreakable shield wall. The Kawal of Akai now ride upon horses to do this, but they were able to break ranks even without mounts. Imawasura is the Guardian Lord of the Southeast, of Pagodas and Fortunes and Jades. His spear is as long as ten thousand palms of Rayasaiwa (whose palm measures fifteen universes), and is named Tudlo. It is said that Imawasura was the one that affixed the eight directions.

Kedatupatya’s Imposition Raise your banner. None shall go before you. Kedatupatya is the Guardian Lord of the Southwest, protector of all the dead, and keeper of the far Southewestern cave of Maharawug, which is a cave that connects the Underworlds with Gubat Banwa. He wields a rattan fan that summons diseases, and provokes fires.

Enlightenment: Rudrakasha’s Vow You call out: “You! I challenge you. Face me or face the wrath of Jamiyun Kulisa!” Kawal are masters of the battlefield. With a single command, they invoke the rite of violence: the Bulu, a duel in the midst of battle. One that they will surely win. A bulu is a duel to the death, after all. Rudrakasha is the Guardian Lord of the Southwest Corner, where the land is barren and eventually becomes a white void, the horizon between Sky and Sea. They guard this impossibility, but with their single eye (which is the Eye of the Hurricane) they can see all, and they can strike at any warrior from afar, gaining their ire, becoming their fate, with his bow and arrow, known only as Kalma, or Destiny.

Prereq: Krishawisu’s Hammer Spend 1 Beat to strike forward with a lance, polearm, or javelin, imbued with the striking powers of Imawasura: make a Melee Fire Bravery Attack vs all targets in line 2. Inflict Stop [+1 per 7+ on the Attack Teeth], and Bleed [+1 per 8+]. +1 Beat to increase the range supernaturally to Line 3. +1 Beat to rush 2 in a straight line before the attack.

Prereq: Rayasaiwa’s Vigil Spend 1 Beat to challenge a single adjacent fighter: inflict Provoke 2 on the target. +1 Beat: As long as that target has the Provoke, whenever they leave an adjacent square, they suffer 1 Hit. +1 Beat: Howl your challenge! Inflict Provoke on all targets instead.

Increased Vitality: Gain Block 1 every start of Fulmination. At Strike 3+, for 1 Beat, choose 1 fighter in range 3 to declare a bulu with. You and the target of your Bulu cannot be targeted or damaged by any attacks, nor can you suffer any hits that do not come from each other’s attacks and effects. You and the target of the Bulu can only treat each other as valid targets. However, you gain +1 to all Martial Abilities while in the Bulu. If you or the target falls to 0 HP, the Bulu ends.

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KADUNGGANAN Demon Sword Raiders of the Endless Seas, Bane of Empires, Seizer of Heaven’s Thunderclaps, Peerless Blademasters of Sea and Sky Mangangayaw (Mah-nga-nga-ya-o) burn through the sea upon boats that slice the waves. They raid shoreline settlements with impunity, usually forcing those living within to travel further inland to avoid them. Mangangayaw are stylish and fearless adrenaline junkies that strike quick and hard, relentlessly, until the enemy breaks, or until they get what they want. While raiding is the main form of warring in The Sword Isles, mangangayaw are those that are specialized in the art of Raiding. In the art of catching enemies with their shields down, in the midst of the night, and looting what they need. Mangangayaw might kill, but their main goal is resources: bahandi property wealth (like brass gongs, porcelain jars, and the like) and debtors. Through this they get richer, stealing shoreline settlement’s riches and porcelain and tradeware to sell from their own villages and towns. Mangangayaw are usually not mercenaries: they usually follow their own datu, and in truth do usually raid with their datu during raiding season, to collect money and wealth from enemy states. Mangangayaw are not only feared within the Gatusan, but also among the shorelines of the Akai Sultanate and the Virbanwan Lakanate, although the Akai Sultanate are peerless raiders on their own. They have mastered boat technology and sea navigation to a point that they raid upon the far southern shores of Baik Hu and terrorize the shore settlements of the Malirawat Empire. Demons, kin-eaters, ogres, they are called, for they are unceasing in the face of adversity. Like a storm approaching that cannot be Stop, only avoided, the kayaw raiders come. Kayaw is the root word for sea raid in most of their tongues, shared among settlements in hushed and whispered tones, too afraid to speak it out loud lest they call their ire. Mangangayaw are wont to wear light armor--and truly enough usually none at all--depending on their skinscarred tattoos to defend them in the midst of the sea. The bravest of them all have tattoos that scrawl up to their faces, making them look like demons. Mangangayaw are brothers with Pinatikan in this regard, and in truth, many Pinatikan are also Kayaw raiders, and vice versa. If you take up the path of the Raid, ask yourself why and for what reason: glory? Power? Wealth? You’re losing that reason. Why do you enjoy the killing?

Discipline Traits 8 HP - Style: Raider Weapons: Kampilan, Kerambit, Balaraw, Gunong Armors: War Jackets, flowing bahag, crimson headwraps, bamboo bracers, golden trinkets

Bloodlust

A mangangayaw must always be showing off, or else they die. No, really: if a sea raider slows down, they will be consumed by the waves of war. And so they must keep moving, so that they are above water. Mangangayaw are born into violence. They are the purest manifestations of strength, vigor, and ferocity. Their swords are always ready, nothing can ever catch them off guard. They are the peerless warriors of the Sword Isles. All will fall to their blades.

Whenever you Stride at least 3+ squares, gain Bloodlust. Bloodlust is a measure of your battle hype. Bloodlust benefits are cumulative, but you lose 1 Bloodlust every time you suffer any number of Hits from a single attack. At 2+ Bloodlust, all your attacks against close targets gain Skewering. At 3+ Bloodlust, gain +1 Speed, but you must Stride your full speed on your turn. If not, suffer 1 True Hit. At 4+ Bloodlust, your second attack in a fulmination only suffers -1d. At 5+ Bloodlust, all your melee attacks have Overwhelming, but every Beat you spend that does not include making an attack inflicts Eviscerate on you. At 6 Bloodlust, at the end of your Fulmination, you may Rush 2 and then Inflict Violence, ignoring Combo Breaker. Then you lose all Bloodlust. You cannot gain more than 6 Bloodlust.

Wave Dancer

The Mangangayaw Art prioritizes quick, shuffling footwork above all. One that lets you move in any direction as you so choose, striking in different angles. This is how the mangangayaw sea raiders rule the waters.

When you suffer an attack, you may Rush 1 after the attack.

Inflict Violences Multistrike [1]: You unleash a thousand lightning strikes in a moment. Make a Melee Water Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target. Open Up [1]: Perform a quick vacuuming movement, lead them to their death. Pull 1 fighter in burst 2. If the fighter is already adjacent, inflict Unbalance instead. Thundering Stomp [1]: You surge forward and stomp, breaking defenses. Rush 1 and then inflict Juggle on an adjacent fighter.

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Mangangayaw Techniques spend 1 beat to blast forward and strike: rush 1 and then inflict violence.

Bleeding Steel Monsoon You move like a whirlpool in the midst of the sea, burgeoning and breaking and crashing and alluring ships into their depths. But you are steel, and you become like an unstoppable whirling wind of sharpness and blades.

+1 beat to make the following attack instead of inflicting violence: area metal bravery attack vs all chosen targets in burst 1.

Sea Demon Fire Pamaagi

Prereq: Bleeding Steel Monsoon

There are lights of the Moon Goddess that alight upon the sea when fishermen and raiders sail through the night. These are called Kalayo Sa Dagat, “Fire of the Sea”. Mangangayaw Kulili Sa Katana befriended a demon and imbued her weapon with it, creating a Technique that allowed Mangangayaw to emblaze their weapons with flames.

+1 beat to rush 3 before the attack instead.

Spend 1 Beat to light your blade aflame: take on the Demon Flame Stance. You can consume the stance when you make a melee attack to make it Skewering and make it inflict Fray x3. +1 Beat to gain SPD+2 while in the Stance. +1 Beat to make the attack Overwhelming as well.

Prereq: Sea Demon Fire Pamaagi

Live Hand You’ve mastered the art of Catching Lightning: a Raiding Art taught to only the greatest of Mangangayaw. Your hands move faster than the wind. Your attacks flow into the next one, not one being a mistake, each one a set up for the next. All will fall under your salt, your weapons flash like lightning in your hands.

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Spend 1 Beat to gain a Live Hand Token. When suffering a melee bravery attack, spend the token to change the target back at the attacker or at another fighter adjacent to both you and the attacker. Spend +1 Beat to rush 2. Spend +2 Beats to give a Live Hand token to an adjacent ally as well.

KADUNGGANAN Sinawali Anyo You ready your weapons and burst forward with an exhalation of steel. Crafted by the grand Mahapanglima Jalido, incorporated due to his ingenuity and his skill in teaching the arts, Mahapanglima notoriously used this to defeat the Akai Lunate Knights that encroached upon his settlement right before he broke his oath with the Sultana and defected to the Rajahnate.

Giant-Slaying Sundang "Learn this bastard art, and soon we will be able to raid heaven, and seize its thunderclaps." The Giants once ruled, and they were hewn with the threads of divinity. With this technique, perfected by the pygmy monkey artist Sri Mahaliwu, your attacks burn with an almost avaricious fervor, emulating the thundering strength of the giants that almost destroyed the cosmos.

Enlightenment: Seize Heaven’s Thunderclaps The entire battle was a setup. Heaven sees your movements: you were priming yourself for the ultimate raid. With your warband you charge, strings of fate binding you together. You move like the hurricane, slam like the tsunami. “Violence is life, and life is violence. Rememver this dichotomy, and every move you make will be an attack.” – The Teachings of Panglima Namwaran, warlord-datu of ancient Tundun.

Prereq: Live Hand Spend 1 Beat to cut through your enemies: rush 5 in a straight line, moving through enemies, inflicting 1 Hit per Enemy. +1 Beat to rush 5 in any direction, but you cannot Hit the same enemy twice. +1 Beat to make it so that you can Hit the same enemy up to 3 times.

Prereq: Sinawali Anyo Find a weakness and strike an enemy open. Spend 1 Beat to make a Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 close target, gaining +1d to the Attack Teeth per following that is true: 0 0 0 0

The target has more HP than you. The target has Unbalance or Juggle. The target has Slow or Stop. The target is on a height higher than you.

you gain momentum: whenever you move 4+ squares, gain brv+1 mod. at strike 4+, spend 3 beats to explode into a monsoon of violence, inflicting 2 hits on every fighter on the battlefield. then teleport to a square adjacent to any of the enemies in the field.

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KADUNGGANAN Master of Song and Sword, Protector of the Living World, Preserver Through Epic and Poetry, Bearers of the Holy Word of Rhythm Sword Poets are sword poets that perfect poetry and weave them into sword-techniques. It has been long said that the only time the people of the Rajahnate are not singing are when they are sick, asleep, or dead. This is doubly true for the Sword Poet an elite Discipline of Kadungganan that focuses on fighting while singing. Even in battle, even without the accompaniment of agung, they sing a song of beauty and sorrow, one that wrenches the hearts of enemies, forces them to rethink, or performs unignorable provocations. Through their Swordsong, they protect their culture, community, and nature. Sword Poet, or Warrior-Poets are not a formal organization: they rise naturally, out of the common stock of the Rajahnate or Confederation, for in the Polity a rite of passage into adulthood is the ability to perform combative poetry (and all poetry was sung) against another of the same age. They sing in either glorious boasting tones or in low rapid-syllable drawls. These warrior-poets, through their battles and shared techniques, use their words and songs to defend their fellow men, letting their violencecharged verses and words strike the hearts of enemies that attack their allies, like the ogres they are. Their heart wrenching melodies force enemies to focus on the Warrior-Poet, lest they face the weight of the world. Their Gahom emanates from them, carried upon the winds of their words, strengthening allies and crippling enemies. This philosophy has created a subset of Hiyang faith called Hiyang Awitan, which focuses on the philosophy that song is the source of all life, and that Diwa is a harmony constantly played across all time, and is what connects all things together. This is the Flower Swordsong: striking and slashing attacks performed in conjunction with melody and metaphor. The witik are snares, the fan strikes are drum beats, the combinations are marching drum cacophonies. The Sword is in itself a metaphor, a calcification of the core tenet of Hiyang, the dichotomy of Cause-Effect, Love-Evisceration, the condensation of idiom into a weapon used to cut, as that is the only permitted course of action. An attack is a beat, a beat is part of a rhythm, an entire attack is a song, a poem. With biting remarks comes specifically crafted verbal attacks that flay a warrior’s defenses, and makes you insufferable, and brings all the attention to the Sword Poet. Not just that, whenever Sword Poet sing, they echo similes and metaphors and personifications in a different language. One more flowery and filled with impossible metaphors and idioms that only they can truly understand. This language is known as Flower Tongue, and it is said to be the most beautiful language never spoken, only sung.

Discipline Traits 10 HP - Style: Sentinel Weapons: Singing Kalis, kudyapi, string lutes, chopping swords, anything that resonates Armors: Long robes, cloaks, headwraps, breastplates, wooden sandals

Song of Swords

When you leap into violence, you begin singing a song of war. A song of your warband overcoming overwhelming odds. A song of you and your friends fighting for a better world. A song of you and your family, your closest loved ones, proving their conviction in a world of death and war. Your words truly now become edges, cutting points. You wave away spear strikes with a deft tongue, you parry blades with broken rhythms.

You are always singing the song of swords, a horrible sword rhetoric. At the start of Violence, give Sword Rhetoric to every ally in the battlefield. Whenever an ally with Sword Rhetoric is the target of an attack, you may consume Sword Rhetoric and gain 1 Reprisal. You can spend Reprisal on the following, at any point: 0 Biting Verse. Spend X Reprisal when an enemy attacks you to convert X non-Defends into Hits against the attacker. 0 Invigorating Verse. At the end of your Fulmination, spend 1 Reprisal to heal 1 all adjacent allies. 0 Mocking Verse. After making an attack against a target, spend X Reprisal to inflict X stacks of Provoke on the target. 0 Siren Song. When an enemy in the battlefield starts their Fulmination, spend up to 3 Reprisal to pull them that many squares.

At the end of your Fulmination, give Sword Rhetoric to every ally that does not have it.

Animating Song Your song keeps you going.

You may Surge 3 times per Violence.

Inflict Violences Singing Swords [1]: Strike while singing. Make a Melee Air Faith Attack vs 1 adjacent target, then you may swap squares with the target. Mocking Swords [1]: Strike and mock the target. Make a Melee Air Faith Attack vs 1 adjacent target. Inflict Provoke on the target. Sword of Diplomacy [1]: Strike and instill a better world with your poetry. Make a Melee Air Faith Attack vs 1 adjacent target. Slide 1 [+1 per 9+ on the Attack Teeth.]

When you become a Sword Poet, ask yourself: why do you fight for a land that does not hear the notes of your sorrowsong? Your song falls upon bloodied ears and corpses. Will you wait until your song ends?

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KADUNGGANAN

Sword Poet Techniques Sword Ambahan A flamboyant Sword Poet, Si Pahimuot, once performed this amidst the kawal of Datu Mabigi, from the league of Pannai, who hunted him down due to him killing his bride. He escaped by staying silent—unheard of for a Sword Poet—and amplifying the cutting tang of his blade. He performed a quick dance, cutting all those about him.

For 1 Beat, you dance a song of steel around you: make a Melee Air Faith Attack vs all chosen targets in burst 1. +1 Beat to make it Bravery+Faith +1 Beat to increase the range to Burst 2

Prereq: Sword Ambahan

Shield of Swords Cut yourself off with that sorrowful song. Maybe then, maybe then, there will be peace. But not yet, not yet. A technick perfected by Sword Poet Sialo Baguna I, a King who spurned rulership to travel with a troupe of professional singers. This requires a quick wit and an even quicker tongue: you perform a poem so quickly that your sword swings are bolstered to follow the rhythm, so fast that it creates a physical barrier of strikes.

Spend 1 Beat to take on the Shield Song Stance until the end of your next Fulmination. While in this stance, all melee attacks against you hit only on 7+, even with Sharpness. +1 Beat to make it so that when you Stride, you may teleport 2 instead. +1 Beat to rush 1 after taking the Stance and then gain Stability.

prereq: shield of swords

Naga Song Exhuberation

for 1 beat, sing the dragonsong and direct it at 1 fighter in range 3. they gain dragonsong x3. as long as they have dragonsong, whenever they make an attack that does not include you as a target, they suffer 1 hit .

“Listen and hear thy people! They crieth out in torment. This war shalt bring us naught but struggle and pain! Please, let mine words pierce thine heart.” A song that sings of the First Dragon, the great Harinaga, King of all Dragons, a God Among Gods, who was brought low and scourged by the giants, who wielded the Flame of Want, in the ancient event known only in the echoes of tradition as The Dragonscourge. Dragons now despise the giants.

+1 beat to direct the dragonsongx3 to all enemies in burst 3. +1 beat to also give the target spd-1.

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KADUNGGANAN Ceaseless Rhythm “Raise your blade up high! If we wish to put an end to this cycle of violence we must put our foot forward. Our poetry is half of the battle. The other half includes our swords. First we inflict violence upon their hearts, then we inflict violence upon the world. What is violence but change? Therefore choose what violence you will enact, and what violence you will choose. Not all violences are equal: some are more noble than others.” A combination perfected by Tuhan Madala, who performed this to defeat a King in a festival that challenged him, following the rhythm of the agung and the kulintang.

Himaya Sword Song Sing a song of joy! For even in the darkest days there are burning bright bonfires. What is darkness if not an absence of light? What is pain but a consequent of life? In this Festival of the Longest Night, rejoice! Happiness cannot be obtained, it is a becoming. Become joyful, Find Glory Beyond Heaven.

Enlightenment: Final Kandu You sing a siday, the folk epic songs of your people. Your song bolsters those around you, and entrances your enemies. They are thrown into a reverie state, forced to play out the Siday that you sing, wherein you are the inevitable victor. However, it is a well-known fact that Siday last for up to seven days and seven nights, enumerating the exploits of great datu and dayang.

Prereq: Naga Song Exhuberation Spend 1 Beat to inflict 1 Hit and Provoke on an adjacent target. > Comboes Into: The next time you use this Technique, inflict Eviscerate and Unbalance on an adjacent target instead. >> Comboes Into: The next time you use this Technique, inflict Slow and Stun on an adjacent target instead. The combo then ends (the next time you use this Technique use the first effect).

Prereq: Ceaseless Rhythm Spend 1 Beat to mock a fighter in range 4 with your overwhelming joy: they suffer Eviscerate, Unbalance, and Provoke until they successfully score 2+ Hits against you with a single attack. +1 Beat: Also inflict Bleed. +1 Beat: Also inflict Stun.

At the start of Violence, you have a Saga Token. When you suffer an attack, consume the Saga Token to cancel the attack against you. at strike 5+, for 2 beats: choose 1 target in the battlefield. for the rest of violence, they cannot perform any hostile actions. for chiefs, they only have 2 beats.

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KADUNGGANAN Exorcists, Priests, Shamans, Healers, and Channelers of the Myriad Gods of Violence, which fills our world and then overflows. Warrior Balyan are warrior-shamans that wade into the frontlines of violence to mend hurting souls and channel violence. They come with their superior knowledge of tambal (medicinal herbs) and their affinity and rapport with the anitu, the unseen powers of the cosmos to help alleviate their allies in a war without end. Balyan are the spiritual leaders of the faith that encompasses almost all of the Sword Isles, which is known to outside people as Anitu. Usually female, but men can also become Balyan, although they must take upon the trappings and present as female, becoming the asug gender. Asug, however, is said like an honorific or a title. Anitu has commonly subsumed most of the religions that have arrived within: while it does live alongside the other common religions in the isles, such as the Ashinin Faith of the Myriad Gods, and the Annuvaran Faith of Tranquilities, it also takes inspiration from them and takes their own gods. Balahala Saiwa, for example, one of the Triumphant Gods of Ashinin Faith, has since become subsumed as a sort of Supreme God in modern anitu thought among the harbor kingdoms. This is less true among the hinterland principalities and settlements, who worship a less god-focused anitu and a more ancestor focused one. As the spiritual leaders, they must know the principles of nature and the world, including the imperative to live harmoniously with nature, where all spirits live, as well as to do what the ancestor spirits find good and right, so as to not incur their wrath and accrue grave misfortune. They are the masters of ritual, performing all rituals such as the ritual before travel, ritual for war, ritual for the death of a Datu, burial rites, and more. They know rites for casting off diseases, healing wounds, as well as inflicting wounds and diseases. They speak and ask guidance from the ancestor spirits, known as umalagad, to give them power or answers, or to defend them in forthcoming tribulations as guardian spirits. They divine by the use of specific rituals to see what the anitu might tell them. Very commonly, the ancestor spirits are the ones truly worshipped, while the Diwata are simply revered. However the most powerful of the anitu, the gods, are worshipped in temples, altars, pagodas, and churches. As Balyan, they know the truth of the world: that nature is alive and all things have souls, nature spirits. Nature gods are Diwata, ancestor spirits are Apo, Guardian Spirits are umalagad, of which many Apo are. Flowing through the world is Diwa, the essence of all things. When something loses Diwa, they lose their own essence, similar to how a tawo without a soul becomes a bumbling animal fool. A sword without its diwa becomes a sword that cannot cut, which is what makes a sword a sword. When a balyan is possessed by a spirit, whether apo or diwata, they go into a fevered trance-dance, wherein the spirit speaks through them, overwhelming their body. Balyan are all at once sage-philosopher-scientist. They learn about the natural world and its secrets and teach it to their settlement. These inscriptions stand the test of time. Warrior Balyan are those that study and channel the gods of Violence, the very circle of killing. Ask yourself: why do you abuse your connection with the divine to perpetuate this cycle of endless violence? You have blood on your hands, balyan. Does it matter whether it is yours, your allies’, or your enemies?

Discipline Traits HP 9 - Style: Medium Weapons: Ritual staffs, wreaths, bundles of grass, incense, tattooed hands, vajras, monk staffs, bells, ritual knives Armors: Multicolored robes, cloaks, golden sandals, flower diadems, breastplates, ritual war jackets

Xenoglossy

During the alabay stages of training (apprenticeship), each balyan undergoes a vision quest under a strangler fig, or balete tree, and there in the abode of spirits they are expected to find their familiar, or their abayan, their companion. When they do, the familiar often manifests as a physical animal, such as a small snake, or an owl, a bird, or a young monkey, or even a dog. Balyan go into a state of divine trance as they channel the gods. The gods are divinity, unfit for our mortal bodies, and so when a mortal channels a god, their body contorts in inhuman ways to try and accommodate the god’s being. Warrior Balyan have perfected the art of going into a violent trance-dance in the middle of combat, and use that erratic movement to both channel the strength of the gods to their allies, as well as to make their own attacks unpredictable.

For 1 Beat, summon a Spirit Familiar from the list below in an adjacent square. You can summon up to 2 at a time, though a fighter can only achieve xenoglossy with 1 spirit at a time. All your effects can begin from your familiars. Whenever you or an ally moves into a spirit’s square (or the spirit moves into your or an ally’s square), you can allow the spirit to possess them, allowing you or the ally to achieve Xenoglossy. The possessing spirit shares a square with the possessed fighter. When the possessed fighter becomes Critical, the spirit dissipates. You can ask the spirit to leave a fighter for 1 Beat, putting them in an adjacent square. For 1 Beat, you can slide 1 your Spirit Familiar. 0 Serpent. Xenoglossy grants Earth Conditioning, +1d on Earth Attacks, and +2 POS. 0 Owl. Xenoglossy grants Air Conditioning, +1d on Air Attacks, and +2 SPD. 0 Deer. Xenoglossy grants Metal Conditioning, +1d on Metal Attacks, and +2 RES. 0 Rooster. Xenoglossy grants Fire Conditioning, +1d on Fire Attacks and +2 BRV. 0 Naga. Xenoglossy grants Water Conditioning, +1d on Water Attacks and +2 FTH.

Inflict Violences War Trance [1]: Dance a horrid dance to curry the favor of the gods. Choose any spirit on the field and perform the following effect based on the spirit chosen: Serpent: Slide 1 adjacent fighter. Owl: Teleport 1 adjacent fighter. Deer: Give POS+1 to an adjacent fighter. Rooster: Inflict Fray to all adjacent enemies. Naga: Inflict RES+1 to all adjacent allies.

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Ritual Weapon [1]: Strike with a blessed weapon. Melee Fire Faith Attack vs 1 adjacent target, +1d if the target has Banes.

KADUNGGANAN

Warrior Balyan Techniques RitualDance Spear War A balyan is trained first in the arts of healing before

Balyan and dance in fits of dance-trances the artsrevel of violence, to ingrain in crazed them that the violence as areispossessed with strength wethey inflict not simplyand forimbued violence’s sake, but forbya the ancestors andWe thedeal gods. they the our restfrail of better world. inWhen violence to dance, transcend the warriors know haveisthe gods on mortal bodies, and that thusthey violence a ritual, onetheir that side. only Folk can dance in.

All allies adjacent to you are considered as having Protect.2 beats to dance the trance dance. you spend are dancing until you fall to 0 hp. while when youyou inflict violence with focus or a dancing, are channeling thea ancestors: lancing weapon, heal anyou adjacent per 4+ all allies in burst 3 1of have ally brv+1 and on the attack teeth. fth+1.

prereq: war dance

Purification Rite A balyan is trained first in the arts of healing before the arts of violence, to ingrain in them that the violence we inflict is not simply for violence’s sake, but for a better world. We deal in violence to transcend our frail mortal bodies, and thus violence is a ritual, one that only Folk can dance in.

Naga Nature Pamaagi Naga are blessed serpent gods that live within the rivers, the under-earths and the seas. They are divine, nature spirits that represent the inherent divinity and other-ness of the sea, and they protect the Seven Realms of the Waters, and are constantly opposed by the Garuda that guard the Seven Realms of the Heavens. They are invoked for merit, blessings, good rains, and protection against the flood. If they appear, it is often a sign of good fortune, though sometimes it might also be an ill omen.

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spend 1 beat to perform a healing rite, cleansing yourself or 1 adjacent ally of all stacks of a single chosen status or ability mod. +1 beat to target an ally in range 5. +1 beat to cleanse all chosen statuses or ability mods from the target.

prereq: purification rite spend 1 beat to summon a naga and turn any unoccupied square in range 3 into water terrain. +1 beat to heal 1 all allies adjacent to that water terrain. +1 beat to increase the range to range 5.

KADUNGGANAN heart and cares not: us Mortal Folk have to bend to him when he brings with him his seasons. Upon the Sky he is well A tale of two Gods: acquainted with the Wind Lightning Lord and Gods: Amihan, the Cold Dragon King. Wind. Habagat the Hot Pray upon the Tempest. Salatan the thunderbolt and make Cavern Winds. Kanaway offerings to the lightning the Death Squall. flash. Jamiyun Kulisa is Balahalabagyu, known the burning Brother also as Vayu or Batara Thunderbolt, son of the Vayu, the God of Storms, Sky Father Si Gurang who brings destructive Tungko, He Who Holds hurricanes. Galura, the The Sky Aloft, known Great Dragon-Eagle at sometimes as the Batala the End of the World, or Batara, said to have who is said to be an wrought the creation of aspect of Jamiyun Kulisa. Folk. The lightning does "Are you happy with not take advice from any what you've done?" asked one, just as the flame Makangayaw, grinning, never seeks the comfort of with burning flame water. Jamiyun Kulisa shooting out of his arises and truly is always nostrils. there, counterpart to the The Second Man nodded. great Sunmother Indira "I have lain retribution Suga, who is not his upon what my sister has Mother but rather his cursed upon me." partner. Together they "And what have they create the Great cursed upon you?" Dichotomy within the "Jealousy." Sword Isles, the two overpowering Seasons of With another mighty the Center of the World: laugh, Apung the Dry Season of Indira Makangayaw answered: "And so the cycle begins." Suga and the Monsoon Apung Makangayaw is Season of Jamiyun offered to whenever a Kulisa. As Jamiyun Kulisa is the ceremonial raid is enacted, whether it be a bringer of Monsoon raid to gain resources or a Season, he is also revenge raid. In this way, connected to the things the raid itself becomes that Monsoon Season brings about: rumination, more than just war, but calmness, peace, the soft ritual. If the omens were bad during the offering, patter of raindrops, the however, it will be a sign chill of strong storm winds. He strikes at the that Makangayaw does not approve of the raid,

Love and Lightning

and the raid will be called off. This usually happens when an omen bird flies across their path, or when the sky is red, or when in the distance they hear laughter during their offerings, or when they perform their boat divinations the boat shudders wildly. Offerings to Apung Makangayaw are frequent, for the main mode of war in the islands is raiding. Apung Makangayaw usually takes upon the form of a slave raider: wearing a short bahag with nothing else, and with tattoos that cover their entire body, the completion of the canvas. Their true form, whenever they should want to show it, is in the form of a naga-headed god, who sits upon a throne of seaspray. Apung Makangayaw is one of the principal members of the Anito faith. Anito, meaning act of worship, is the most widespread faith in the islands, so prominent that they do consider it more as tradition and way of life, and not just performative religion. Apung Makangayaw's spirit house is often situated by the shore, always by the shore. The usual spirit idol carved out for him is made usually with wood from sunken boats, and showcases a naga-headed man sitting cross-legged, with both hands upon his waist. Apung Makangayaw idols are frequently carried unto boats that would embark on raids.

prereq: naga nature pamaagi spend 1 beat to bolster an adjacent ally with either the blessing of lightning or the blessing of war. 0 blessing of lightning: an ally with the blessing lightning may consume it when they leave a square to teleport 6. 0 blessing of war: an ally with this blessing may consume it when they make an attack to give that attack +3d.

+1 beat: give it to an ally in range 5. +1 beat: give both blessings to the chosen ally.

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KADUNGGANAN Astral Vehicle The Ten Mahadiwa are said to be great gods and goddesses who live in heaven, earth, and hell to help and mingle with the lives of mortals. It is important to consider then that these Mahadiwa were once warriors, who all died in war, and thus were made gods by the rainbow that carried them to the Sky. Thus each of the Mahadiwa are capable of human thought, speech, and understanding. They possess the Knowledge of Good and Evil that they used to have when they were humans. When a Mahadiwa dies or is killed, they simply reincarnate as another Mahadiwa. Through this, they live 999,999,999,999 lives. Mahadiwa Tala Kinabanaagan is the Bronze Multiplicitous Sidereal Steward of Stars, who lives in the Morning Star that brings with it the dawn. Mahadiwa's karakoa and coterie of 180 Star Servants Upon Astral Palanquins are said to fly across the sky, pulling the dark blankets of night away and giving it back to the Moon, Tsandira Dayawa. She watches the earth, and guards many secrets to sorcery,

as the givers of sorcery are hidden away in the darkest voids of night. Mahadiwa Tala Kinabanaagan is also said to grant Hiyang to those that spend their lives trying to achieve it. Those she grants Hiyang to are given corporeal forms as stars upon the sky. Her being can be seen in the dawn, the dusk, the lightning bolts, the shooting stars, the comets, and the asteroids. She has lived her entire life in enlightenment. It is said that when she died, she was on the cusp of Hiyang, and when she was killed by a TenFathoms Long Lance, she became a star that exploded upon the field, burning all in smokeless flame, and then shot up into the sky as the Evening Star. She is said to have a mirror image: Mahadiwa Kalakatri Duumanun, her darker side, the shadow that wraps around each star at night. They are both all at once the same and also different. The Bulakdiwa say: she is like this because she dared venture into the deepest parts of the night sky, further and further, past the void and the world jaws and the endless seas of chaos. Past the firmament, and past the darkness. The Bulakdiwa say: what she found, apparently, was not God, nor the

Throne, nor Enlightenment--for how could she? She is already nature itself--but instead she found that she was swimming up, up, up, and up into the ocean. Her enlightenment is thus: the depths of the ocean and the farthest reaches of the void are one and the same. And when she understood the cyclical nature of reality and metareality, she realized that she lived in a world of unconstrained principles, she realized then that she lived in a world fabricated by dancers and singers and artists singing songs and laughing about a bonfire, and that split her into two, and her enlightenment-beyond-enlightenment was lost. But she still remembers. She knows the kinds of god-beings--many just as powerful as her--living in the Depths|Void. The Evening Star burns continuously. She is an evershining flame. Aba, aba, glory to the Evening Star. In the Eighth Star Era, only she has the sidereal violence to shine into the new world.

Prereq: Love and Lightning You have light and darkness internalized. Spend 1 Beat to undertake either the Light Nature or Dark Nature, though you cannot be both at the same time. 0 Light Nature: All allies within burst 2 of you heal 2 when you start your Fulmination. 0 Dark Nature: All Attack Teeth generate 2 Hits on a 9+.

Spend 1 Beat to bless your current Nature to an ally in range 3, and they have that nature until the end of Violence. Spend 2 Beats while you or any ally has Light or Dark Nature to overload the nature. Once Overloaded, you cannot take upon that Nature again until the end of Violence.

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0 Light Nature: Inflict Stun x2 to all enemies in burst 2. 0 Dark Nature: Inflict 2 True Hits to all enemies in burst 2.

KADUNGGANAN Enlightenment: Minor Glory, Transcendent Unity This is your final testament, and your own minor transcendence, your own inkling of enlightenment. A little taste of what truly means. You become a Bulakdiwa, a bodhisattva on the cusp of Blossoming and finding Glory in Harmony. How do you feel? Take that next step. The first violence was when the Bulakdiwa of Violence glimped Blossoming when she realized the truth of the world: it is a vicious wheel. From the ancient war of the Southwest Monsoon and the Northeast Storm, to the slaying of the Ancient Dragon at the hands of Sumongsuklay, to the violence of the Giants Upon The Oldest of the Creators. All of these were Wheels of Violence, but the paradox she realized as she chose to stay corporeal upon the earth instead of achieving unity with the All, was that violence was how they were going to stop it. Thus she became the First Bulakdiwa, bodhisattva of violecne. She forestalled Glory to

You constantly hover on the cusp of Transcendent Glory, Unity With All Things. All attacks against you have 5% chance of missing completely. Roll the Chance Die before the Violence Cast. At Strike 5+, spend 1 Beat to achieve temporary Liberation: Become Immune to all attacks, but you cannot deal any damage as well. Any time you attack a target, heal them per hit instead.

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KADUNGGANAN Dancers along the lines of Cyclical Death, spirit mediums of Yamadiraja, Diwa of Death and Violence. With your knife fists and sword feet, dance along the lines of death, so that you may evermore be changed. Remember, faithful students, enact Cyclical Change to ensure the river ever flows.” Death Dancers channel the tenet of Cyclical Death to cleanse Gubat Banwa. They are the purest incarnation of Gubat Banwa, fighters that excel in the styles of martial art known as Empty Hand, as well as Lightning Feet. Heed the truth, then: Death Dancers are actually spirit mediums that channel Yamadiraja, the God of Death and Violence. In a vast number of beliefs, Yamadiraja is considered an Aspect of Rajaraya Pintas, the Ancestor God of Violence, while other sects, like the Kayama-an religion in far east Gatusan, recognizes Yamadiraja as the Supreme God and the Creator God, who created this reality by murdering the past reality. In Kayama-an, Kalakatri is not seen as an Aspect of Mahadiwa but rather, an Aspect of Yamadiraja. The martial art of Death Dancers, the Dance of Death, originated from deep within the mountains of the isles in far east Gatusan, where it is said that there is a cave that leads into the Underworld. There, Yamadiraja (who is said to be the same person as Sri Dapa, the God of War and Mortality in Southern Regions of the Sword Isles), came to them and taught them his Dance, as a way of achieving Hiyang with him, and to become agents of Cyclical Death (that is to say, death needed to continue the cycle, so that it is not corrupted with false immortals jockeying for power). Therefore the Dance of Death is at once an intricate ritual and a powerful martial art used to devastate. Many sages conjecture that this was actually a powerful turning point for Gubat Banwa: for the God of Death itself to teach their supreme art marked the beginning of the Eighth Star Era. Various mediums of Yamadiraja have come down from that mountain and spread across the land, Mastery their art to those that would accept the channeling and worship of Yamadiraja, or Sri Dapa. In the Eighth Star Era, they have multiplied, and various settlements have created their own versions and manifestations of Yamadiraja’s supreme art. There was a Mastery, however, that was given to the Death Dancers, as they were taught the final maneuver of the most lethal art in Gubat Banwa: “When you have attained the awe inspiring fires of death itself, which humbles even the gods, what do you do next? Use it with the same function as an especially sharp rock?”

Discipline Traits 7 HP - Style: Raider Weapons: Hands, feet, head, elbows, knees Armors: Tattoos, bahag, sarongs, handwraps

Many Handed Wheel-Turner

Let Death speak for one last time: “There are things that are meant to cycle, such as the flow of the universe, and things that are not meant to cycle, such as the generational evils. Therefore with your internalization of Cyclical Death, you will know which cycles to kill, and which cycles to preserve. Remember, however, that no God shall ever be Immortal. Therefore killing God enacts Cyclical Death as much as severing a slave from their master enacts Cyclical Death. Let all things end with you.”

You can now take upon more than one Stance at a time. If you do, gain a number of benefits equal to the number of stances you are currently in. These benefits are accumulative: having 3+ Stances means you also have the benefit of being in 2+ and 1 Stance: 0 1 Stance: You have +1 Speed. 0 2+ Stances: Starting a Fulmination in 2+ Stances lets you Rush 1. 0 3+ Stances: Starting a Fulmination in 3+ Stances lets you inflict 1 Hit to all adjacent enemies. 0 4+ Stances: Your melee attacks become Overwhelming.

Body As Weapon Paagi

You take upon yourself the initiation of cyclical death. What does the cycles of violence see now? Dance along the lines of death.

Choose whether your practicing the Heavy Handed Executioner or the Lightning Death Movement style when you go into combat: 0 Heavy Handed Executioner: Your Hundred Hands of Yamadiraja is slower but more powerful: Melee Earth Faith Attack vs 1 close target, with Overwhelming, but you have -1 SPD. 0 Lightning Death Movement: Your Hundred Hands of Yamadiraja is quicker but weaker: You may teleport 1 then make a Melee Air Faith Attack vs All targets in Blast 2 with Dullness.

Inflict Inflict Violences Violences The Hundred Hands of Yamadiraja [1]: There are a thousand deaths a day, and that is how many strikes you unleash. This is dictated by your chosen Body As Weapon Paagi style. Sunyata Palm [1]: Breathe and meditate upon the emptiness taught by Destined Death. Take on the Empty Stance until the end of your next Fulmination. When you suffer hits, consume the Empty Stance to push 1 all enemies adjacent to you. Diamond Body [1]: Perform an anyo ritual, striking each point of your body and hardening it to a thunderbolt. Take on the Diamond Body Stance until the end of your next Fulmination. While in the Stance, you cannot be forcibly moved and when you move into an enemy’s square, you collide with them (do not suffer Hits) and push them 1.

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KADUNGGANAN

Death Dancer Techniques Sea and Storm Dance Mastery Ninth: Be as water, formless but all form, thoughtless but all thought. The final conceit of the transcendental animism, this oneness with nature, this Hiyang, is to be as the bamboo, swaying in the wind, thinking not, but becoming that thing. Through thoughtlessness, become violence. This is a gentle fist, be not afraid to use it. With it, you shall toss boulders. Death crumbles all things, even mountains."

Death Clinch Yamadiraja, as Sri Dapa, measures the lives of every mortal on earth upon a tree on the Mountain of Kibalu, in Sonyoh. There, those that would travel to the Tree of Life would be met by him, and taught by him. He emphasizes thus. Quoth Death: “You are not beyond death. None are. Even immortality is temporary. Even the gods face death, for everything is part of the cycle of Diwa. Therefore, learn: something can only be beautiful if it ends.

Spend 1 Beat to take on Forceful Wave Stance: All your Melee Attacks now Push 1 per 7+ on the Attack Teeth and you can walk on water, ignoring water terrain. Spend 2 Beats to take on Razing Storm Stance: When you Rush, you ignore terrain and elevation.

Spend 1 Beat to strike quickly with a chopping bolo punch which weaves into a grapple. 1 adjacent fighter to you becomes Clinched. While Clinched, they suffer Stop and Slow, but they lose Clinched at the end of their Fulmination. +1 Beat to immediately inflict violence, gaining Skewering. +1 Beat to immediately throw the target: push 5 and if they collide, they suffer Stun.

Prereq: Sea and Storm Dance

Foe Stepping Stance Teaching twelfth: be as the wind. Be the thing that bends bamboo, the thing that becomes hurricanes, the thing that fights back waves. Be the thing that floats over it all.

Spend 1 Beat to take on the Foe Stepping Stance until you suffer hits. While in this Stance, when you Rush and you end your movement in an enemy’s or terrain’s square, you can rush 2 more, and keep bouncing off of enemy’s though you can only bounce off each enemy and terrain once. Vertical terrain counts (ie. Higher terrain). +1 Beat: To make it so that every fighter you bounce off of suffers 1 Hit. +1 Beat: To make it so that this works with Strides as well, not just Rush.

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KADUNGGANAN Prereq: Deathly Clinch

Hornbill Bladekick Duality-Rending Sutra: do what is assigned to you, to your utmost ability, to the quality closest to the one expected. Strike, and when you do, strike with utmost intent. To perform the Hornbill Bladekick you must be close enough to Yamadiraja that you can manifest his leg, which is a burning monitor lizard claw.

Spend 1 Beat to strike either down or up with a bladekick: If up: inflict 1 Hit and Unbalance. If down: inflict 1 Hit and Juggle. +1 Beat if you strike them down to instead embed them into the ground. While embedded, they cannot make any attacks and must spend a Beat to remove themselves. +1 Beat if you strike them up to launch them into the sky, removing them from play. They fall down at the start of their next Fulmination, suffering 1 True Hit.

Death Comet “Death Dancers practice the art of Holistic Violence, one of the main Rituals of Yamadiraja. This means that they are not simply inflicting violence, but they are violence. Death Dancers that practice this Technique understand and apply it to their martial art: they are capable of taking on multiple stances at a time, as if they are all violence at once. Quoth Death: “The Dance of Death is not just a physical dance, but rather, a way of life. Death, remember, is not the end, but rather, the next step to the next life. Therefore embrace death, and you shall be mercurial.” The ultimation of this Technique is the ability to strike the air so quick with kicks that you summon a burning comet.

Enlightenment: Dance of the King of Death You breathe out, and then break into the blissful dance, all to summon Sayawraja, the King of Dance, the most violent aspect of Yamadiraja: a six-armed, flaming-eyed Avatar of Violence. The Ultimate Hypocrite. They Who Will Kill Those That Threaten Ang Hiyang, Transcendent Dharmapala. From your soul erupts two more sets of arms. Quoth Death: “The Four-Armed Thunderbolt Wielder is one of the primal versions of Yamadiraja. If there would be any that lights the wick of his ire, he will take upon this form to remind humans the most visceral and primordial face of death.”

Prereq: Foe Stepping Stance, Hornbill Bladekick Spend 1 Beat to kick the air rapidly, and send a ball of pure fraying death upon a target: Ranged Earth Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 5. +1 Beat to turn this into a starstreak: Change the target to All targets in line 5. +1 Beat to store the ball instead, turning it into a Death Charge. When you next make a Faith attack, consume the Death Charge to make that attack Overwhelming.

When you make a melee attack, you can choose to shed any number of Stances, dealing +1 Hit per Stance removed. at strike 4+, spend 1 beat to summon the death avatar: all your melee attacks have sharpness and have Overwhelming. When you become Critical for the first time after gaining the blissful dance, you explode in deathly energies: inflict 6 true hits upon all enemies in burst 3.

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KADUNGGANAN Ritualist-warriors who perfect the ritual of killing and decapitation, the law of equivalent exchange, Masters of Reaping Fates. In the Sword Isles, despite what others might have you believe, killing is a ritual undertaking. Among the shoreline settlements and metropoles, killing a man is a coming of age ritual. One that begins your journey in these islands as an individual. Deep into the mountains of Rusunuga, in the One Thousand Plutocracies that live upon its mountains--one of which is Vuyu--they practice ritual headhunting. This tradition is something not specific to them as well: warrior braves in lowland settlements frequently picked up their slain enemies’ heads to be portrayed upon their house, and some plucked out the hairs of their slain enemies to use as decoration for their kalasag shields. They do this because everybody holds a certain amount of Gahum, pure untapped spiritual power. By accruing this Gahum, they themselves get stronger, gaining more favor in the eyes of the ancestors. When a person dies, their Gahum is transferred to whoever takes it, either through their head or through the sweat or liquids from their body after a mummifying process. This is why the burial rituals in The Sword Isles are varied, long, and revered. The Headtaker is someone who specializes in collecting heads. They have turned this immaculate and sacred ritual act into a business, a job. This is what the islands have fallen to. What was once a ritual tradition, that sacred act of killing, has been blasphemed. The warriors of Apumbukid have learned this tradition from the headhunting folk of Vuyu and the mountains of Rusunuga. Many Headtakers travel to Apumbukid to cease their ritual headhunting with their fellow man, and instead hunt down those that are disrupting Hiyang, as a form of ritual sacrifice and ritual killing. Headtakers usually trawl the lands and accept jobs from Datu to perform headhunting ritual killings for any reason, whether it be for revenge, for murder, or for mourning. In return, Headtakers are given lodging and acceptance into society. A sort of necessary evil. In this way, they are no different from any other Kadungganan, but Kadungganan have the gall to think they are different. That their killing is in any way more sacred or more noble. Headtakers are trained in the mountains or hinterlands, subjected to harsher conditions than normal, whether it be cloying hot jungles or the near freezing cold of the highest peaks in The Sword Isles. They are at home in the shadows of the trees, above the unseen branches, clad in shade and vine. They do whatever they need to do to perfect their Technique, taught in all manner of martial arts by all manner of teachers. Sometimes these teachers are ancestor spirits, sometimes these are diwata, sometimes these are the folk living in these hinterland regions. Whoever it may be, it does not matter to the Headtaker. All teachings lead to the ritual art of decapitation. When you become a Headtaker, ask yourself: are you willing to become headless to perform your duty? Ignorance is bliss, Kadungganan.

Discipline Traits 7 HP - Style: Raider Weapons: Headtaking Axe, sickle, tabak, golok, pinute Armors: Cloaks, rain capes, breastplates, silk robes

Ritual Kill

The Headtaking Rite is an endlessly difficult martial art to master, and it is not taught to just anyone. Everyone that becomes a Headtaker understands combat-as-ritual, and does not and will never take it lightly. They will only take heads if they must, if they need to, if the ancestors command it. The Decapitation Rite is a martial art that uses venoms, shadows, bamboos, combined with large strides and a low stance to defeat opponents.

For 1 Beat, designate a single fighter in range 5 that you can see as your Ritual Kill. You can only have 1 Ritual Kill at a time. When you mark a new Ritual Kill, your last Ritual Kill disappears. Whenever you make a melee attack against your Ritual Kill, your attack gains Skewering. If it already has Skewering, gain +1d on the attack.

Shadowstep

The Decapitation Rite teaches that the shadows are your friends. The darkness is not evil; in fact, it is a respite and a safe space from the overbearing hegemony of the sun’s scorching rays. Therefore use it to your advantage, and let your axe burn with love.

When you Stride, you can choose to teleport 1 instead. Additionally, you can now move through enemies but not end in their squares.

Smoke and Bamboo Style

Headtakers are trained in the art of leaping from tree to tree, bough to bough, finding the perfect angle to strike down and end things.

While adjacent to blocking or cover terrain, spend 1 Beat to gain Stealthx2.

Inflict Violences Cleave and Eviscerate [1]: Go for the fucking throat. Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target. If the target is Staggered, this attack gains Skewering. Ambush [1]: You leap out and strike from the shadows. Melee Earth Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target. If attacking from Stealth, this attack gains +1d. Dancing Weapon [1]: Throw a weapon imbued with ritual shadows. Ranged Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 3. If the target is Staggered, may teleport to a square adjacent to them.

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Headtaker Techniques Owl Dance

spend 1 beat to gain an owl token. you can consume the owl token at any time to teleport 1.

Thread 2: Blood need not be so noisy, however.

+1 beat to also give 1 ally in range 2 the owl token.

Head Lopping Attack “To truly become the axe, you must be able to puncture the carapaces of all those that you wish to destroy. If you cannot, then you are ineffectual, useless.” - Si Batara Padakul, Diwata of Axes. Thread 1: Your axe will always find its mark.

Spend 1 Beat to strike down with a weapon and lop off heads: make a Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 close target. If this brings them to 0 HP, inflict Daze all enemies in burst 2 as your savage display sends them reeling. +1 Beat to rush 1 before the attack. +1 Beat to add +1d to the Attack Teeth.

Slayer Pamaagi “Verse 49 - However, their head split into ten thousand skulls, and the Supreme Soul spoke: YOU HAVE DESCRIBED ME WRONGLY IN YOUR LESSONS, They said. I AM NO GOD. I AM BEYOND GOD. YOU CANNOT DESCRIBE ME. IN YOUR HUBRIS, YOU CANNOT KILL ME. I AM BEYOND DEATH. NOW... ACHIEVE HIYANG.” 50 - This lesson cannot be written down, for it exists and does not exist all at once. I apologize on behalf of the Great Hero of Heroes, Noble Lord of Warrior-Slayers.” – SONG OF IDDA MANGUBAT

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Spend 1 Beat to take on the Slayer Stance until you are forcibly moved by an enemy. While in this stance, when you move into an Enemy’s square that has 1 HP left, immediately defeat them. +1 Beat to gain +1 Speed while in the Stance. +1 Beat to gain Stability when you first take this Stance.

KADUNGGANAN

Prereq: Owl Dance, Head Lopping Attack, Slayer Pamaagi

Shadow Ritualist Verse 22: “When BA~TA-LA, That Supreme Soul, stepped into the world through the paradox of creation, Idda Mangubat vanished into the trees in Their path. The great universal consciousness’ gaze seemed so serene that he felt themself melting into oneness just at Their gaze”. – SONG OF IDDA MANGUBAT

Death Scythes Down Thread 1: When blood is drawn, maybe then we shall revel in ultraviolence.

Spend 1 Beat to rush 1 and then summon a Size 1 shadow clone of yourself in the square you left. When you are the target of an attack, you may swap squares with 1 Shadow Clone, teleporting. You can only have up to 3 Shadow clones at a time. For 2 Beats, on the lines of shadowspeed and shade momentum you strike, a rippling culmination, as your shadow clones leap and strike your target: Melee Air Bravery (+1 per your Shadow Clone in the field) Attack vs 1 adjacent target. All your Shadow Clones then disappear.

Prereq: Shadow Ritualist Spend 2 Beats to leap down like a shadow scything down: Make a Melee Air Bravery Attack vs 1 target on an Elevation lower than yours in range 3. Roll the Attack Teeth twice and take the better result. +1 Beat to increase the range to range 5.

Enlightenment: Yamakala Nature Whenever you move through the shadows, the god of ritual killing sends merit, flashing out in shadowy arms, striking all about you. One of the many Gods of Fated Death is said to be the god/goddess Yamakala Lakibayibatara (MaleFemale Deity). It is said that the God of Cyclical Death, Yamadiraja, and the Goddess of Vengeance, Kalakatri, were once one being of all death.

all your melee attacks against enemies with full hp you may roll twice and take the better result. at strike 4+, spend 2 beats to kill all enemies who have 3 or less hp.

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KADUNGGANAN Wielders of Kinaadman: Enlightened Will, Practitioners of Kimat Kinaadman, Greater Than Cannons There has ever been magick in Gubat Banwa, and it is ever more concentrated here, in the Sword Isles, the Center of the Trichiliocosm. Kinaadman is a potent thing. It is less a source of power but a burning field of experiences. A differing state of being where one is exposed to the greater mysteries in life, and no answers are given to you. Only questions, questions, questions. Across the isles, a common name for miraculous and paranormal powers is Kinaadman, which means “erudition”. Kinaadman can be gained with proper cultivation, study or meditation with the Cosmic Soul, while some might have kinaadman as a consequent of their nature, such as gods and demons. There are many kind of kinaadman: magics to change the size of something, to summon mystic flame, to control the thunderbolt, to heal others (commonly known as busali), to levitate, to manipulate the elements, to become impervious to harm. Makinaadmanon are those that master mudras (mystic hand gestures) and mentalas (esoteric words inscribed upon palm leaf or incanted), using that as a means to manifest their kinaadman kinetically. Not just that, but they have also mastered the art of ritual, having the ability to perform a vast number of rituals that inflict such effects that require another Makinaadmanon or a balyan or healer to be able to dispel. Makinaadmanon in particular have chosen to step up and adapt their abilities to be able to be used in war and raids. This art is known as the art of Kimat Kinaadman (Lightning Erudition). It is the application of sorcery and spiritual gifts into combat. Makinaadmanon have become indispensable artillery in Warbands and armies henceforth in the Sword Isles, becoming natural counterparts to lantaka. Gatusan and Apumbukid, for example, use Makinaadmanon and Witches (Mambabarang) liberally to supplement their artillery.

Discipline Traits HP: 6 - Style: Witch Weapons: Meditations, vajras, staffs, mudras, mantras, bamboo prayer strips, burning bolts of energy Armors: Meditational Robe, silk jackets, voluminous cloaks, flowing sarongs, gleaming paruka

Thunderbolt Body

The most common expression of Kinaadman is through sheer spiritual power. As a Makinaadmanon, your body changes in conjunction with the growing kinaadman within you. This is where the martial art Kimat Kinaadman gained its name: their bodies very often turned into burning lightning as they fought, as they cultivated their kinaadman to burning heights. They command the elements of the world as a poet commands words, with a mixture of stances and flowing body movements that replicate the characteristics of the elements they control. Sometimes they also rely on the use of palm leaf magic strips to empower their attacks.

Every start of your Fulmination, gain 1 Kinaadman, a mote of spiritual power. You can spend any number of Kinaadman when you make a Faith Attack to add that many Kinaadman to the Attack Teeth, or when you inflict a Bane to inflict that much stacks of that Bane. 0 At 1+ Kinaadman: your powers are bolstered. All your faith attacks inflict Slide x2. 0 At 2+ Kinaadman: all your Faith Attacks inflict Burn x2. Burn reduces 1 HP every start and end of Fulmination. 0 At 3+ Kinaadman: you start hovering as well, gaining Float. 0 At 4+ Kinaadman: your body becomes a Thunderbolt: all your Faith Attacks gain Overwhelming and you inflict 1 True Hit whenever you inflict Banes. 0 At 5+ Kinaadman, your body is overwhelmed, and you explode: you fall to Critical and inflict 3 True Hits on all targets in burst 5.

Elemental Perfection

The Makinaadmanon perfects the natural world around them, so that they can reach harmony through the violence they inflict.

The ability to mix mudra and mentala into a single seamless mystic martial art has proven to be exceedingly effective, however: Makinaadmanon fight with a mix of kinetic movement that interweave mudra gesturing with intricate kick katas, mentala utterings with dodges, and the planting of mentalainscribed bamboo strips is combined with powerful lock-punches.

When you make a Faith Attack, you can choose what the Element of the attack will be.

You hold limitless power in your hands, why inflict violence instead of healing the land? Your answer will never be enough, Makinaadmanon.

Kinaadman Blast [1]: You blast down with overflowing kinaadman. Make an Area Metal Faith Attack vs all targets in burst 1 within 4 squares, then inflict Vulnerability on each target to the element of this attack. Curse [1]: Inflict spite and perversion and make them bleed. Inflict Eviscerate on a target in range 5. Clawed Witchstrike [1]: With your hand in a clawed mudra, you rake at the victim of your scorn. Make a Ranged Earth Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 5, and then slide them 2 + 1 per 7+.

Inflict Violences

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Makinaadmanon Techniques Siga “Heaven crumbles and the seas boil! With nothing but my name writ across the stars... Siga!” A popular mudra amongst Makinaadmanon that truly encapsulates their position as magickal artillery. This spell was perfected by Makinaadmanon warriors that needed to sneak through ancient temples guarded by Akai invaders.

Spend 1 Beat to perform Siga: make a Ranged Fire Faith Attack vs 1 Target in range 5, then inflict Fray x3. Spend 2 Beats to perform Kusiga, changing the target to all enemies in line 5. Spend 3 Beats to perform Devasiga. As with Kusiga but with the following effect: inflict 1 True Hit and Fray on all enemies adjacent to the last target of this attack.

Baha

Prereq: Siga

“I hold you to your word, giver of waters! Grant me thine strength to vanquish ere enemies! Water churns and overtakes chaos: Baha!” Sorcery is the ability to use your own energy to affect the world at large, which you perform by harnessing your Kinaadman. You bring this storm down to bear upon your enemies. Baha is the spell used to summon water and to let it surge across the world.

Spend 2 Beats to perform Kusobaha: Increase the range to blast 5 within 4 squares.

Spend 1 Beat to Baha: Area Water Faith Attack vs All chosen targets in blast 5, then slide 1 all chosen targets.

Spend 3 Beats to perform Devabaha: As with Kusobaha, but also inflict SPD-1 to each chosen target.

Batubalani Mentala are magical formulations that are usually read from the bamboo strip, but a very quick way of implementing them is by imbuing them upon something, and letting their effect trigger by dint of your Kinaadman. "Whisper, bleed and burst forth! The overwhelming oppressive force of the gods of the soil herald thee! Batubalani!" You throw out a mentala that rends into pieces at it hits the ground, creating a magnetic field. Batubalani means magnetic rock. The concept of rocks having its own force of attraction is ubiquitous across the isles, and it is said that this is the reason why people are drawn to the earth: the earth gods have an innate spiritual attraction that brings all mortals down.

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Prereq: Baha Spend 1 Beat to perform Batubalani: choose 1 square in range 5. All chosen targets in burst 2 of that square are Pulled 1 toward that square. Any targets with Float or Fly lose this until the end of their next Fulmination. Spend 2 Beats to perform Kusobatubalani: pull 2 squares instead and inflict Unbalance. 3 Beats to perform Devabatubalani: As with Kusobatalani, but increase the burst to burst 3.

KADUNGGANAN Kilat “As I gather my fulminations, the violences upon my heart bursts forth! Uncontainable like the lightnings: I shall streak brighter than Jamiyun Kulisa! Now feel my sun-searing spite: Kilat!” The element of lightning is the purest condensation of wind, and is the weapon of the gods. This technique was perfected by Busalian Keravu, from the highest mountains of Rusunuga in Sinuku, who was said to have been struck by lightning ten times and deflected each one. He was granted the technique by Galura himself, who incarnated as Gat Alti Alaya, GodHero of the Lightning Bolt, who brandished four arms. Mudras are magicked hand gestures that stem from ancient foreign religions. These gestures have metaphysical meaning, and performing them in certain manners, or projecting passionate faith upon them, calls magick upon the world.

Prereq: Batubalani Spend 1 Beat to summon a fulminating lightning bolt, Kilat: make a Ranged Air Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 5. Spend 2 Beats to perform Kusokilat: Make the attack a snaking thunderbolt across the battlefield: change the target and range to all targets in path 7. Spend 3 Beats to perform Devakilat, as with Kusokilat but also Mark all targets of this attack until they suffer an Air Attack again. When they are marked, they have Air Vulnerability and inflict 1 Hit on all adjacent allies whenever they suffer Hits on their own.

Prereq: Kilat

Linog “Heed me, grandfather earth! Grant me thine earthquake! Linog!” The element of earth is said to be younger than his fathers, the element of wind and water, who were first in the cosmos. However, earth has always been very rebellious. The earth is associated with steadfastness, but when flipped, represents ultimate annihilation.

Enlightenment: Heaven To Earth Vajra “Jamiyun Kulisa, offer me your thunderbolt. Habagat and Amihan, offer me your winds! Si Ginarugan, let the almighty Earthquake shake the foundations of this atrocious field, and Indira Suga grant me the authority to bring godly indignation! SAKUNA!” You raise your hand and thunderclouds gather. You incant, writhing, spiking utterations and ululations. When heaven has had enough of your blasphemy, the holy powers of heaven send a fulminating lightning bolt to the earth, embodying all seven natural elements.

Spend 1 Beat to perform Linog: launch yourself off of the earth, rush 3 in a straight line, ignoring terrain, fighters, and elevation. Once you land on a square, raise 1 adjacent square to you by +1 Elevation. Spend 2 Beats to perform Kusolinog: Any enemy you move over suffers 1 Hit and Eviscerate. Spend 3 Beats to perform Devalinog: As with Kusolinog, but once you land on a square, inflict 1 Hit on each enemy adjacent.

at strike 5+, for 3 beats, you may summon the burning thunderbolt into the earth: inflict 5 true hits to every target beyond burst 2 (everywhere within burst 2 of you is safe). then suffer 1 true hit. if narratively appropriate, become defeated to enact sakuna: inflict 10 true hits on all enemies in the battlefield, but then you die, annihilated by the strength of your own thunderbolt.

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KADUNGGANAN Embodiments of Minor Enlightenment, Manifestations of the Wind, Arrows of Harmony, Born from the Watchtowers.

Discipline Traits

Tigpana [tig-pa-NA’] translates directly to archer. This is the discipline of long distance combat atop bamboo watchtowers, treehouses and rocky outcroppings peppered across The Sword Isles. This discipline actually originated in Ibalnong, but was applied to the rest of the archipelago by Apumbukid as violence intensified.

HP: 7 - Style: Sharpshooter

They measure the lay of the wind, the rustle of leaves, the whisper of the land. What heat might do to the trajectory of a fire-hardened arrow, the nuisance of rain. To become a Tigpana is to become one with nature, to be as silent as the first light of dawn, to be as quick as the darkest point in the night.

Panganoron Pana

Weapons: Sikarom (bamboo longbows), shortbows, blowguns, guns, lobbers Armors: War jackets, vests, padded shirts, sarongs, natural mantles The Art of Piercing Petals with your Arrows was famously created by an ancient longbow master in the peninsula of Ibalnong, SRI DIWA SAMAYAW, God of Hunting and said to be an aspect of Rajaraya Pintas, who elevated the simple art of bow fighting to a god-beast hunting martial art with the help of the dark-skinned Mayaran folk in the hinterlands of Rusunuga, who have perfected the bow and arrow art. This art requires the practitioner to be at least not Dihiyang, and at best, completely Naghiyang, or Concordant With the Universe’s Flow or Nihawa, to become the most accurate martial artists.

Tigpana are masters of all ranged bows: from the common busog, or shortbow, to the rarer sikarom, the bamboo longbow, which is so long that it had to be held under the foot to be strung. They fire the initial strike when needing to protect a settlement, or if on a raid, they will seek the highest vantage point to dictate the momentum of the battle.

At the start of combat, gain 1 Flow. Every start of Fulmination after your first, gain 1 Flow. You can only have up to 5 Flow. You can use Flow to empower the strength of your arrows. Flow represents your attunement to nature and violence as the fight progresses. Harmonious Arrow Meditation: While you have Flow 2+, all your ranged attacks have Sharpness. Venerable Sri Magayon Stability: You can spend 1 Flow when you are Pushed or Pulled to ignore that forced movement. Boltavara Fury: When you make a ranged attack, spend X Flow to gain Xd on the Attack Teeth. One With Nature: Spend Flow to gain Stealth equal to the 1+Flow spent.

Tigpana are made to watch with eyes sharper than eagles. With escalating tensions between polities, these elite sharpshooters have descended down from upon their lofty bamboo watchtowers to fight alongside their fellow Kadungganan. This has done nothing to impede their skill, of course. In fact, all it has done is to show how much more formidable a Tigpana is up close, with perfectly lined shots that can sever the head from the neck. While Apumbukid trains them in large numbers due to their proactive stance on their stewardship, the art of long ranged archery came from Ibalnong, in the northwestern tip of Rusunuga, bordered by the volcano Magayon, the most beautiful volcano in all of The Sword Isles, known for its perfect cone shape. The Ibalnongnon are closer to the Gatusanon than the Virbanwans in culture, and also tattooed themselves and raided the coasts of foreign lands. When invaders came, they were known as some of the most belligerent warriors, evidenced by their skill with longbows. These Ibalnongnon warriors have since taught warriors far and wide the discipline of longbow archery, and have thus bred a new breed of Tigpana across the isles.

Sri Diwa Samayaw’s Boon

Sri Diwa Samayaw wields a weapon that cannot be broken or stolen or destroyed. The Tigpana’s art teaches the same, much meditation and contemplation is focused on creating this inescapable bond between the martial artist and their ranged weapon.

While suffering any Bane, gain +2 range to all attacks with Range X.

The Art of the Tigpana was once preserved only for hunting large game in the forest. It has now been turned into a hateful art that skewers their fellow men. But even then, before going out of a hunt--whether it be for an animal or for a human--Tigpana make their offerings to their gods. In supplication, in sorrow, in a Fulmination of asking forgiveness. The Art of Petal Piercing combines Harmony Through Breathing with Archery techniques. To never miss attacks, Tigpana become one with the battlefield, gaining for a moment a violent Hiyang, which they use to be able to be the most accurate martial artists across the Sword Isles. Tigpana are the most powerful snipers, and truly great Tigpana are rare across the Sword Isles. If you choose to become a Tigpana ask yourself why you have chosen the path of more violence, if you could’ve stayed protecting what is yours instead. Who do you fight for? Why? Blood stains your bowstrings, how long until it flows from your heart?

Inflict Violences Snipe [1]: Shoot and kill from above. Ranged Air Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 6, ignoring cover and blocking terrain. If done from Stealth, gain +1d. Aim [1]: Ready death. Gain 1 Flow. Your next Ranged Attack gains Sharpness. If it already has Sharpness, it instead generates double Hits on 9+. Quick Shot [1]: Shoot and then flip back. Ranged Air Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 3, then rush 3 backwards, away from the target.

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Tigpana Techniques Future Arrow

Spend 2 Beats to shoot 2 arrows into the air. At any point in the violence after the current Strike, you can cause the arrows to fall onto any any target that is within burst 5 of you, immediately inflicting 1 Hit per arrow.

This Discipline was made by the Sikarom (bamboo longbows) wielders of Ibalnong. They stood upon bamboo watchtoweres known as bantara to be able to protect their settlements from every raid. With a meditation upon the Universal Flow, you fire an arrow meant for the future.

+1 Beat to gain Stealth x2 immediately after firing the arrows.

Wind Breathing Style

Prereq: Future Arrow Spend 1 Beat to imbibe Zephyr Essence: rush 2, ignoring height.

This concoction, known sometimes as the Hiyang Rasa (The Essence of Harmony), once crafted by baylan of Tigpana, has now become a common concoction taught to all beginner Tigpana. Made of fire, crocodile tears, hibiscus petals, and cinnamon bark, the concoction helps you align with the Flow. Once aligned with the Flow, you can use it to block off other’s connection with the world.

+1 Beat: Fire a wind-infused arrow after rushing: Area Air Bravery Attack vs all chosen targets in path 7. +1 Beat: Rush 4 in a straight line instead.

Prereq: Wind Breathing Style

Bamboo Reroutes The River

Spend 1 Beat to ready yourself, taking on the Si Taka Catches Arrows Stance until you make an attack. While in this stance, when you are the target of a ranged attack, roll a d6. On a 3+, redirect the attack against any other target within range 4.

The tigpana’s reaction time is feared across the isles. Nothing matches them. In truth, this is the first lesson of the Tigpana: to catch an arrow from mid-air. The second lesson is this: throw the arrow back. Sri Taka is a legendary folk hero among Apumbukid, a Hinapanun noble who fought against a Virbanwan iron foundry village that seeked to kill the diwata of the forest Ibusi, Apu Ibusi.

+1 Beat to immediately rush 3. +1 Beat to ready yourself: at any point during your Fulmination, consume the Stance for 1 Beat to inflict violence twice without Combo Breaker.

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KADUNGGANAN Everywhere All At Once Meditation Becoming Naghiyang is an enlightened state but is not a final salvation or liberation from the sufferings of life. When one is Naghiyang, one moves in accordance with the wants of nature, with the bouncing gods that live in every single thing, including one’s self. They do everything naturally, easily, without thinking, action without thought. However, mindfulness is still required to stay Naghiyang: one can be very easily brought out of harmony. Those in Naghiyang revel in the absolute joy in being accordance with the trichiliocosm.

Prereq: Bamboo Reroutes The River Spend 2 Beats to gain the Watchtower Stance. Once per Fulmination, while in this stance, when a fighter leaves a sq within burst 4, you may deal 1 True Hit against them before they leave the square.

Prereq: Everywhere All At Once Meditation

Harmonious Wind Spirit The application of Hiyang Technique is favored by all tigpana: with an ululation, you summon a wind spirits in particular areas of the battlefield. When your arrows go through the spirits, they are infused with stronger Flow, bouncing off of them and accelerating.

For 1 Beat, Choose 1 square in range 3, placing wind Spirits (Size 1/2 Summons) in them. When making a ranged attack, the attacker may target the wind spirit. If they do, they can change the origin point of the attack to the wind spirit, and the attack gains +1 Range. +1 Beat to increase the range to 5. +1 Beat to increase the size of the spirit to Size 2, but it doesn’t take up that square.

Enlightenment: Astra of Transcendent Harmony You breathe out, and your breathe sparks with the rising drums of thunder. None can keep you down. Your aim is steady. In the gentleness arises the greatest of violences. This is the Rusakpana: the Bow of Annihiliation. Rusak weapons are weapons made of pure annihilating god-essence, the weapons of the gods and those that invoke them.

whenever a fighter in range 5 of you suffers an attack, inflict 1 hit immediately, 1/fulmination. at strike 4+, spend 1 beat and choose any target in the battlefield. roll your bravery+faith against them, each hit being a true hit. if they are still in play, they suffer stun.

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KADUNGGANAN Combat Mediators of the World, Lovers of Mantra, Channelers of Batala the Destroyer, Virtuosos of Warspeaking, Practitioners of Domination The art of Speaking has not been lost upon the warriors of old. Of course not. Speech developed alongside violence. In many ways they are one and the same, the two sides of a single sword. A few eras ago the counselors of an ancient God-King came together to create a martial art that would bind the two sides of the sword into one. To create a martial art that would cut through both falsehoods, politics, diplomacy, and violence to be able to arrive at a better world through peaceful speech instead of violent conquest. They spoke with the BATALA-BUDDHA, incarnated as the Devaraja Dharmadewa (known sometimes as Vatara Guru and Debata Siwa), the Creator-Destroyer, and they were given the Batalamentala, the Mentala of the Destroyer. These mentala (sacred utterances, a form of prayer-mantra) were used to invoke Batala’s power, and were also used to influence the minds and dominate others through speech. Of course, as with all things that are not completely Hiyang, they were not able to achieve this. Nay, perhaps that is too harsh. They turned the Batalamantras into the Gubatmantras, or War Mantras. It was meant to cut past any uncertainties to create a more harmonious bond, but it did anything but that. The War Mantras, when employed into combat, is known under the martial art of Warspeaking: utterances and rhetoric turned into attacks, logic and declarations as defenses. The War Mantras are still perfected by many parawali today, thus why the Apumbukid term for the Warspeaker is Sundang Parawali, Sword Counselor. However, the term Warspeaker is strictly reserved for those that practice and perfect the convoluted art of Warspeaking. It is one part rote (“you must learn these particular rhetoric for they counter all swords”), other parts theory (“this particular word sequence requires proper application and proper context”) and even other parts psychology (“know your enemy before employing this ironshield logic gate”). However, once perfected, Warspeakers are known for traveling throughout the battlefield without wielding weapon nor armor, and being able to turn enemies traitor. The five major techniques of Warspeaking deals in inflicting disarray with entropic mantras, domination which deals in controlling enemies with proper rhetoric, logic, and sacred utterance, inspiration which deals in imbuing allies with strength through proper speech, and illusion, the greatest of the Warspeaker’s abilities, in which they are able to utter words that both destroy the illusion of the Trichiliocosm as well as manipulate the illusion. Through this they understand: the Trichiliocosm is an illusion of action, created through our senses, as we try and understand God. If you become a Warspeaker, ask yourself: you have perfected the art of talking, and choose to employ it in the battlefield? Why must you use it in the same way an ape would use a particularly sharp rock? With the right words you can bend buddhas and bodhisattvas to your will, let others find glory, and yet you choose to cutting ignorance. Your words might be sharp and your understanding of the illusion of the world strong, but who is the real fool?

Discipline Traits HP: 6 - Style: Witch Weapons: Staff, fan, words, whispers, mockery, swords, daggers, hammers Armors: Cloaks, silk jackets, silk pants, sarongs, headwraps, diadems, silk slippers

God Mantras

The conception of Batala as the Supreme God arrived in the Isles after the Ashinin Missionaries brought the term BHATTARAKA meaning Noble Lord in through religious work. BHATTARAKA is one of the names they used for their Auspicious God, the Absolute Reality, known as SRIWA. The name SRIWA never caught on in Rusunuga, and when the teachings of the Sage of Violence Himayanon Annuvar arrived through the Annuvaran Missionaries, they kept used the term BATALA HIMAYANON BATALA to refer to the Eternal Himayanon, the Cosmic Sage that embodies all of Divine Law and is where all of reality arises from, and that kalibutan is a consequent of this. With the syncretization of BATALA to refer the Absolute Reality of Divine Law, the name stayed.

When you start your Fulmination, choose which mantra you are chanting until the start of your next Fulmination. 0 OO SIW GULURAD. Every fighter in burst 2 of you suffers POS-1/RES-1. 0 OO KUSG HAREYA. When a fighter starts their Fulmination in burst 2 of you, inflict Slide 1. 0 OO ARA SIGLA. When an enemy in burst 2 rolls Attack Teeth, force them to reroll one tooth. 0 OO MATA MATA. When an enemy ends their Fulmination adjacent to you, they suffer Unbalance.

Biting Commands

Constantly speaking, you know the secrets of the Sword of Diplomacy and Mediation. With the proper words, you strike at the hearts of men.

Whenever you forcibly move a fighter, inflict 1 Hit on them, 1/Fulmination.

Inflict Violences Mock [1]: Utter mocking phrases. Ranged Air Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 5, then inflict Provoke on them, choosing any ally as the one they’re provoked to. Fast Friends [1]: Now confuse them and make them drop their guard. Inflict Eviscerate on 1 target in range 4. Sword [1]: When all else fails, unsheathe the sword mantra. Ranged Fire Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 3, inflict Bleed x3.

You are nothing but a sword.

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Warspeaker Techniques Butterfly Words Style

1 beat: slide 2 one target in range 2. 2 beats: slide 2 two targets in range 3. 3 beats: slide 1 all targets in the battlefield in range 3.

“Master this utterance and command the battlefield with your words.” You utter A·TAS, warriors find themselves moving of their own accord.

Fey Buddha Glossolalia

prereq: butterfly words style 1 beat: daze a fighter in range 3. 2 beats: stun a fighter in range 2. 3 beats: stun all fighters in range 3 burst 1.

“Master this utterance and know that the Absolute Reality is I, and the imperfect senses cannot comprehend perfection.” You utter KA·RIK·TAN, and you show a warrior perfect beauty, so hard to comprehend that they are dazzled.

prereq: fey buddha glossolalia

Ferocity Mantra

1 beats: inflict brv-2 or fth-2 to a fighter in range 4.

“Master this utterance and inflict doubt upon the victims of your scorn. This is how you will transcend violence.” You utter BA·LA·SIK: the surat inscribed upon the air, you weaken your target.

2 beats: inflict juggle to a fighter in range 2. 3 beats: inflict unbalance to all enemies in the battlefield.

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KADUNGGANAN Hibiscus Laughs Sutra One day the great Namulak, He Who Blossomed After 500 Thunderbolts, Paranirvana Royalty, the BATALABUDDHA, was ruminating upon a giant hibiscus. The laughing dog warrior Shree Bangut Pangil came up to him, thinking he could take advantage of the buddha’s rumination. The Namulak spoke the mocking syllable U·LOL and split the greatest warrior to have ever lived into a thousand billion realms, and thus created the trichiliocosm.

prereq: ferocity mantra spend 1 beat to take on the cruel mockery stance. while in this stance, all enemies in burst 2 of you can only have you as a valid target. however, once you are attacked, consume the stance to disappear in hibiscus petals: rush 3 and an ally in range 3 rushes in and can inflict violence. +1 beat to teleport 1 before taking on the stance. +1 beat to inflict pos/res-1 to all enemies in burst 2 of you when you consume this stance.

Beyond Royalty Implicature Meditate on this poem, and then utter the words KID·LAT, which is lightning. For enlightenment is like a burst of lightning. BATALA in a humble warrior-king form gathered his warriors together, sitting atop a karakoa. “Gather round, o warriors, and open thine ears. I sing on the topic of Ego, and it is thus: Killing God and Becoming God are goals for the lesser-minded chained to the cycle of rebirth. Embrace Violence and find Glory beyond God.”

Enlightenment: Shatter Haraya BATALA is the “I leave you with this final mentala. Inscribe these upon your souls, or your bamboo slates, or your swords. This is NI·BA·TA·LA. Thus is the word for all my followers. All my followers will have my enlightenment, and know the truth of the Trichiliocosm. All things are Haraya, or Imagination. To find the truth of the world, one must find me.” These are the words of BATALA upon the Lake of Pulilan, before riding upon a water lotus to the grand unending seas and returning to His abode. Speak HA·RA·YA and manipulate the illusion itself.

prereq: hibiscus laughs sutra 1 beat: choose 1 fighter in range 3. that fighter becomes dominated: they inflict violence if they can, with a target chosen by you. +2 beats: choose any number of fighters in range 4 to inflict violence, if they can, with a target chosen by you.

Whenever you inflict a Bane upon a fighter, put down an illusion adjacent to them. You can only put down up to 3 illusions: if you put down another one while you already have 3, choose any illusion to remove first. When you Stride, you can instead choose to switch places with one of your illusions, teleporting. These illusions have 1 HP and can be attacked, but they do nothing else. You can choose what they look like, but most Warspeakers tend to make them look like clones of themselves. for 1 beat, you can shatter the illusion: inflict 1 true hit, stun, and sunder on each enemy adjacent to each illusion. each illusion is shattered, removed from play.

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KADUNGGANAN Martial Artists of the Perfect Hunt, Tamers of the Divine Wilds, Seekers of Truth and Hunters of Gods Hunting is a popular trade and profession in the isles. It's how one gets pig and meat, after all. And pig caught in the forest is a ritual sacrifice, filled with metaspiritual meaning and power. Hunting in the isles are done either by one’s self, with traps, or with a dog or two, who can pin down game. When war breaks out, and constant violence looms, specialized hunters arose, pointing their traps and their dogs at their enemies. They took it upon themselves. Now they train their children not only in the arts of hunting, but also in war. They call themselves the Beast Hunters, for they both hunt and handle beasts, and what are warriors but beasts of a different name? The Moon and Star Dance was an easy Martial Art to spread across the Isles. The Akai Clan that began the Moon and Star Dance is long gone, their traditions dispersed across all of the isles. It was Akai that first saw their applicability in war, and began granting nobility and vassalage to hunters who would join the Sultana’s following and army. An even smaller contingent of elite hunters serve as her royal hunters, outfitted with silks and golds and jades. Beast Hunters use a large variety of constructed traps to control the battlefield. They might bait their enemies, use strange pits to make them fall, or soften the soil to make them slip quicker. Beast Hunters are unmatched when it comes to manipulating the battlefield with their ingenuity and closest allies. They thrive in the mid-range, putting down traps to shut down enemy movement and skill. Most importantly, the Moon and Star Dance focuses on flowing, mindful movements that incorporate the Sidereal Companion: Hunting Beasts. Hunting beasts are fierce and they never back down, and they even prefer to fight against things larger than them, the devil bastards. They rejoice in the glory of savaging a giant boar or crocodile or stag and bringing them writhing to the floor. The most common beast is a witch dog, forest canines that can climb trees and have constantly sharp claws, but common hunting beasts also include monkey-eating eagles, fierce civets, juvenile crocodiles, and sometimes even wild warty boars. Beast Hunters are sought after for their trapmaking expertise and their peerless skill in surviving the deep forests. They come from all walks of life, and with their hunting companions, they can take on whatever challenge that will come their way, with a combination of their wit, their innovative skill, and the fierceness of their hunting beasts. If you choose to be that consummate hunter, ask why you used your hunting and trade for battle. What made you hunt the ultimate predator? Why do you sic your hunting beasts at your fellow man?

Discipline Traits HP: 6 - Style: Witch Weapons: Spears, harpoon, bows, guns, crossbows, daggers, gunong, barong, throwing knives Armors: Shawls, breastplates, sarongs, pants, sandals, war jacket, lamellar

Hunting Beasts

Beast Hunters have with them a powerful Beast, a Hunting Beast, usually a dog, but possibly also dogs, owls, cats, or any other beast they have created a connection with. These become their Sidereal Companion, the Stars to their Moon dance. These Hunting Beasts are very commonly chosen from birth, and you live all your life with them. They are very often anointed with lunar oils. Beast Hunter fail their best friends sometimes. It is required, a suffering lesson, to reach mastery of the Perfect Hunt.

You have a Pet that travels with you and begins every violence adjacent to you. Name them. They are Size 1 fighters and share your Martial Abilities. They do not have their own Fulmination, but every end of your Fulmination they are not mounted they will Rush 2 and then inflict 1 True Hit on an adjacent target. The first time you switch into this Discipline or during Downtime, choose your Pet’s type to find out what they do when you Command them for 1 Beat.

0 Canine: Your beast howls. All enemies in burst 1 of the Canine suffer a POS/RES-2. 0 Feline: Your beast inflicts Eviscerate on an adjacent enemy. 0 Raptor: Your beast swoops down, inflicting Bleed on 1 close target. 0 Reptilian: Your beast flails wildly, inflicting Unbalance on all adjacent enemies. 0 Mauler: Your beast mauls the target, inflicting push 4 to 1 adjacent target.

You can move into your pet’s space to mount them. You can still command your pet while Mounted. While Mounted, you gain the following benefits: You gain +3 SPD and all your effects with ranges have their ranges increased by 2.

Best Friend

Hunters in the Sword Isles make best friends with their pets, giving them names and treating them like siblings or their own children. They create lavish burials for their pets that die while in duty.

When you lose all HP, you can switch squares with your Pet, and the Pet is the one Defeated instead. You don’t suffer the Hits.

Inflict Violences Crippling Shot [1]: Let loose an arrow or shoot a gun to break your prey. Ranged Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 5, inflicting SPD-1, and then your pet may rush 1. Bleeding Shot [1]: Fire a flurry of shots that draws blood. Ranged Earth Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 5, inflicting Bleed x2. Give your pet SPD+1. Evisceration Gun [1]: Fire a straight shot that opens wounds. Area Earth Bravery Attack vs all chosen targets in line 5, inflicting Eviscerate.

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Beast Hunter Techniques Balatik Trap Technique Balatik are the most well known contraption and trap of hunters in The Sword Isles: they are small bamboo ballistas and arbalests that, when triggered, skewers the unsuspecting prey with a long bamboo spike. It turns out that this is just as effective for humans as it is for wild boar and deer.

You begin Violence with 3 Balatik Traps. Spend 1 Beat: consume and activate a balatik trap: choose a square in range 5 as the origin point for a Line 6. All enemies in the line suffer 2 True Hits, SPD-1 x2, Bleed x2.

Prereq: Balatik Trap You begin Violence with 3 Pit Traps. Spend 1 Beat: consume and activate a Pit trap: choose a square in range 5 as the origin point for a burst 1. The Burst 1 falls down -1 Elevation, and all enemies within suffer Unbalance and Stun.

Pit Trap Technique Perfect for heavier creatures. This is a shallow pit that has multiple bamboo spikes with firehardened tips at the bottom. Learning to create and use this trap effectively necessitates harmony with the land.

Tiger Hunting Meditation The Godbeast Hunter Jinrud Aceh Pakali could not capture a legendary tiger whose fur was whiter than lunarblooms. Therefore, in the midst of the night, when the Moon was full, he removed the balatik from its fixture on the ground and hunted down the Tiger God. The Tiger God was so impressed at Jinrud’s tenacity that they fought Jinrud on his own terms, until Jinrud slew them. In thanks, Jinrud cut off the deer’s antlers and gave it back to the forest. Jinrud has since then began teaching advanced Beast Hunters the art of wielding the Skewering Spear.

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Spend 1 Beat, to take on the Tiger Hunting Stance. While in Tiger Hunting Stance, you have SPD+2, you and all your summons and pets ignore difficult terrain, and whenever you start your fulmination, inflict Eviscerate on any fighter in range 4. +1 Beat to enhance the Tiger Hunting Stance into the God Hunting Stance: while in this stance, on top of the benefits of the Tiger Hunting Stance, you can teleport 1 before making an attack.

KADUNGGANAN Gilded Hound Nails Brandish nails of gilded iron, burning, meant to melt through the hardened carapaces of elder monsters. A technick crafted by Guro Dugu Ido, the Bloodhound, who famously hunted down his game not with spears or bows, but with talons crafted from gold.

Witch Dog Summoning Pamaagi Witch dogs are diwata that guard the forests. The fabled witch dogs or asonanggubat (forest dog) are some of the most vicious dogs, that only the most skilled of hunters can summon. These black-mouthed, large and wide-shouldered dogs have severely sharp claws that regularly shed, making it so that their claws are always sharp.

Enlightenment: Elephant Hunter The great Maharaja Indrajaya, one of the most wellknown ancient datu under the Sultanate, once went on a hunting journey with Jaris Akai himself in Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows. There they found large elephants, and decided that these behemoths are the greatest hunting targets. They went and killed many, but were faced with Sri Ganesh, the Elephant God. With the help of Baginda (who gave them a blessed moonsilver needle that destroyed Sri Ganesh’s god nature) they defeated Sri Ganesh, who told them that they could continue hunting elephants, but must only do so as a powerful ritual offering to gods. With this agreement, Jaris Akai introduced elephants to Siga upon great war junks. Maharaja Indrajaya became known as the great Hunter King, and many Akai hunters invoke his soul when going out on hunting expeditions.

Prereq: Tiger Hunting Meditation Spend 2 Beats to strike with gilded claws: Rush 1, and then make an Area Metal Bravery Attack vs all chosen targets in Burst 1. +1 Beat to inflict Sunder on the attack and then rush 2 after the attack.

Prereq: Pit Trap Technique, Gilded Hound Nails Spend 1 Beat to summon a Size 1 Witch Dog in a square adjacent to you, which shares your Martial Abilities. Every start of your Fulmination, the Witch Dog may rush 3. All enemies adjacent to the Witch Dog cannot make attacks that do not include the Witch Dog as a target.

At the start of your Fulmination, give 1 fighter in range 4 that you can see 1 Hunt. Only 1 fighter can have Hunt in the battlefield at any given time--if you give a different fighter the Hunt, transfer all current Hunt to that fighter. A fighter can have up to 5 Hunts. Whenever a fighter with Hunt is the target of an attack, the attacker may spend any number of Hunts to add that much Attack Teeth to the Violence Cast. spend 2 beats at strike 3+ to throw a moonsilver needle to up to 3 fighters in the battlefield. they have the needle for the rest of violence. while they have the needle, they suffer 1 true hit every time they leave a square.

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KADUNGGANAN Warriors of the Most High, Sacrifical Berserkers, Those Who Will Die For The Moon Goddess, They Who Triumph In Adversity Martyrs triumph in adversity. They kill and die in the name of their conviction. While Faith in the Moon Goddess isn’t a prerequisite to mag-sabil, conviction is. A conviction to die in the face of imminent, and sometimes quite certain, death. All warriors can perform the sabil, that sacrosanct war-ritual. However, Martyrs dedicate their entire lives to the sabil. Every venture they go out on is a venture they are prepared to die for their faith in. This has caused Martyrs to be particularly feared, due to their total lack of self-preservation. They vest themselves in the trappings of burial: wear white, anointed in oil by the pandita. And then they go to battle to die, bringing as many as they can with them, so that they can arrive in heaven and stand alongside Baginda Sumongsuklay. The first Martyr was said to be Baginda Sumongsuklay herself. She arrived upon the islands in times now long gone, and traveled into the sky palace of Indira Suga and Jamiyun Kulisa, and immediately went into a frenzy. She succeeded in breaking the sky gates, and in her total lack of self-preservation, leapt onto the Thunderbolt and wounded him. Brother Lightning and Mother Sun have since left that sky palace, and now Baginda Sumongsuklay commands the faith and trust of the warriors of Akai. Those that become Martyrs dedicate their entire lives to the emulation of that art, with the knowledge that they shall ascend to the bladed moon heaven of Baginda Sumongsuklay should they die in the act of pag-sabil. The death violent art of mag-sabil has been known since the dawn of time, once practiced in supreme deference and respect for the datu, they will dress themselves in the vestures and raiment of death and go on berserk fury, or as it is known in the Archipelago: pag-sabil. You sharpen this glorious fury into your weapon. You have forged yourself into the ultimate killing machine: your heart is a sword, the pain you suffer is fire to the furnace. During the end of the Seventh Moon Era, pag-sabil has been easier to initiate and invoke with the help of sugapa and other drugs to elevate the fury to one transcendental, communing with the spirits of war. The most well known mag-sabil do give themselves to the mad fury of the moon, of the Moon Goddess Baginda Sumongsuklay, to whom adoration and respect is required, and dying in their name is the ultimate way to reach her Palace in the Sky. Martyrs can also be found all across the archipelago, especially those that have the same amount of zeal and loyalty to their leaders and the spirits of their settlements. They are, however, few and far in between in number, a small number of warrior braves who are always ready to die for their leader and faith. Before going out on a venture, you dress yourself in the raiment of death and then anoint yourself with oils, as if you were being carried off to be buried, and then dress yourself in your best jewelry, to make sure that you bring with you your earthly wealth to the next life and be accepted into heaven with open arms. If you chose the violent life of the Martyr, ask yourself who you profess your faith to. Why? Do you wish heaven? Or is this a convenient excuse for you to inflict indiscriminate violence?

Discipline Traits HP: 8 - Style: Raider Weapons: Panabas, gunong, barong, kalis, kampilan, golok, pira Armors: Bare chest, silk jackets, white headwraps, white bahag, silk slippers

Death Trance

You clad yourself in the raiments of death, white to reach the Moon Goddess’ eternal blissful palace. Breathe now, breathe. If it be your time, then it is your time. Be not afraid. Be not afraid. Who are they to say that your faith-rage is unjustified? This world is sundered and torn: break it even further, and in so doing bring light to bear. This is the Principle of Fury: kill all things indiscriminately to attain true Harmony. Remember, loved one. Your rage is not simply anger, wrath. It is justice, God’s Vengeance, Holy Moon Striving. You fulfill the purpose of your life in this, submit wholly to the Moongleam.

Performing the Sabil gives you benefits according to what Strike it is. The longer the fight goes, the more powerful you become, but the more reckless you become as well. These benefits are accumulative. Strike 1: Lunar Fury. When you bring a target to 0 HP, you may Rush 2 and Inflict Violence again, ignoring Combo Breaker. Strike 2: Rising Beat. Your Combo Breaker penalty becomes -1 for the Second Attack, and -2 for every third attack and beyond. Strike 3: Glory To God. You gain BRV/FTH+2 for the rest of violence, but you lose all Defenses: your POS/ RES become 0 and cannot be modified. Strike 4: Ritual Offering. You gain Regen for the rest of violence, but if you are Defeated at this point, you are not removed from play, but you die at the end of violence. Strike 5+: Berserk. You can now roll [Bravery against Bravery Attacks] or [Faith against Faith Attack] dealing Hits against the attacker after the attack resolves. Every end of Strike, look if you have suffered any HP loss during that Strike. If not, then you lose the Sabil’s benefits until you suffer HP loss. You can spend 1 Beat to suffer 1 Hit.

Whet The Body

Wield the Moon’s Holy Blade, which is you. You! This is your strength, let Baginda Sumongsuklay, peace be unto her, wield you and bring the final triumph of victory. Who else could it be but you? With this internalization, you wield the holy blade of tenacity, and nothing shall ever stop your advance.

1/Fulmination: When you suffer a Bravery attack, gain FTH+2.

Inflict Violences Holy Berserk [1]: Let loose for Goddess! Melee Fire Faith Attack vs 1 adjacent target with Skewering, suffer POS/RES-1 afterward. Overwhelming Force [1]: Break through, IDA IDA! Push 4 a close target, inflict Unbalance afterward. Purification [1]: Become holy before Goddess! Melee Fire Faith Attack vs 1 adjacent target, gain Block 1.

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Martyr Techniques Faith Unending

Spend 1 Beat to anoint yourself with oils: gain +1d on your next Melee Attack.

The Lunar Goddess has seen it fit for you to strive. Coat yourself in the holy oils. Battle is always death, battle is always death. Let out your rage, mighty Martyr! The Lunar Palace Upon The Moon beckons you! If you are to fall, then you shall bring all those around you with you!

+1 Beat to give this benefit to an adjacent ally. +1 Beat to strike with overpowering strength: every 5- on your next Attack’s Attack Teeth either inflicts 1 Hit on an adjacent target or turns an adjacent square into difficult terrain.

Crescent Cleaving The Earth

prereq: faith unending

You hurl your weapon, guided by your faith in the Moon. Wield the Moon’s Holy Blade, which is you. You! This is your strength, let Baginda Sumongsuklay, peace be unto her, wield you and bring the final triumph of victory. Who else could it be but you? With this internalization, you wield the holy blade of tenacity, and nothing shall ever stop your advance.

spend 1 beat to throw your weapon: area earth bravery attack vs all targets in line 4, then your weapon falls onto a free square adjacent to the last target of the line. it becomes size 1 weapon object. for 1 beat while you’re within burst 3 of the weapon, you may call it back, marking a path that starts adjacent to the weapon and ends with 1 square adjacent to you.

Prereq: Crescent Cleaving The Earth Spend 1 Beat to take on the Indomitable Stance until the end of next Fulmination. While in this stance, you have Stability and cannot suffer any more Banes.

Indomitable Pamaagi The Moon’s Holy Blade has express techniques for dealing when you are hobbled or disarmed. In fact, you are taught to be even more dangerous when you are in this state, as you are driven to a corner, and you must become more than a beast.

+1 beat to remove 1 bane while taking on this stance. +1 beat to make it so that you can now consume the stance when you suffer a bane to make your next attack overwhelming.

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KADUNGGANAN Prereq: Indomitable Pamaagi

Juru Pakal Juru Pakal is an ancient, holy blade, used by Raja Sulayman and Indarapatra to cleanse the Sword Isles of primordial demons and monsters. Many still exist today. Many shy away from Juru Pakal’s power.

Spend 1 Beat to strike with the burning white blade of Goddess: Melee Fire Faith Attack vs 1 adjacent target, add +1d to the Attack Teeth per Bane on the target. +1 beat to add +1d per general status effect on the target. +1 beat to cleanse all chosen status effects on the target and then heal 2.

Prereq: Juru Pakal

Holy Wrath Amok “Verily, I say unto you: should you shed blood for your Goddess, thus shall you find eternal life. But should you rip open Heaven in the name of the Moon, then shall you achieve Concordance.” - Masteries of Pandita Ashakarwa.

Spend 1 Beat and 1 HP to run amok: Rush 1 and then make a Melee Fire Faith Attack vs 1 adjacent target with Overwhelming. +1 Beat to increase the range to all targets in blast 3. +1 Beat to also destroy every object and terrain adjacent to you.

Enlightenment: Glory In Striving “The Moon shall descend. And so, submit, and be faithful. The Moon shall cleave the earth.” - Book of the New Moon, Chapter 4, Verse 36, Lunar Scriptures. The Martyr rejoices in the glory of combat. You ready your weapon, and engage in violence. Your wounds only make you stronger. IN VIOLENCE YOU ARE BORN AND IN VIOLENCE YOU WILL PERISH. YOUR FURY IS A FIRE THAT CANNOT BE EXTINGUISHED, IT SHINES IN THE VOID AFTER THE END OF THE CREATION. REMEMBER THIS, MARTYR: WHEN PEACE IS ACHIEVED, YOU WILL CEASE TO EXIST. LET US ACHIEVE BLISS, THEN.

While you are Staggered, all your melee attacks generate 2 Hits on an 9+. at strike 5+, while staggered, spend 1 beat to enact partake in ritual death. at the beginning of your next fulmination and every fulmination after that, you have 4 techniques per fulmination. however, should you fall to critical, you immediately die.

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KADUNGGANAN Emblazoned Chevaliers of the Throne, Guardians of Nature and Stewards of the Divine Wilds, Achievers of Concordance Through Communion with the Holy Raptor Sarimanok Knights are faithful and skillful cavaliers that fight both on land and in the air, as needed. They ride upon their faithful sarimanok, proud and powerful, and they make sure that their enemies are brought down to heel. They are trained as an elite cavalry, and usually only the richest of Datu can outfit and train an entire ten man unit of Sarimanok Knights, much less address the cost of maintaining Sarimanok. Sarimanok have been there since the beginning of time, some say. They have been there ever since there has been the Rainbow, the sign of victory, born from the tears of the Sky to the Sea, Their love forbidden forever. The sarimanok are large, usually seven to eight foot tall roosters with rainbow feathers that glisten in the sun and sheen in the rain. Their large wingspans allow for limited flight, and their natural hard skin is enough to deter any assailant. Sarimanok are holy winged mounts and representatives of Baginda Sumongsuklay. It is said that Jaris Akai met Sikhandag, the Moon Prophet, thanks to a sarimanok that Sihkandag rode upon, which glinted with the rainbow halo of the full moon. Sarimanok exemplify the Divine Striving to protect and engage in war to preserve. Sometimes this story is said to be the truth of the mythical tale of Rajah Indarapatra and Bayi Bulan, which means that Jaris Akai is commonly seen—among those that practice syncretized anitu-annuvara—as an Avatar of the Triumphant God Balahala Saiwa. Sarimanok Knights must learn to grow and feed their own Sarimanok. They must establish a unique and special bond with them, binding them to their very souls. As long as they are alive, their sarimanok cannot die, cannot perish. Once a sarimanok and their knight are bonded, they are fated by some cruel watcher to die at the same time. Sarimanok Knights learn to use longer weapons, larger swords or sibat. They generally wear heavier armor to protect themselves since they don’t need overly quick movement. However, they are more or less stuck to their sarimanok in combat. Sarimanok, while not bred for combat, are willing to brave the heat of the skirmish to bring their knight to victory. While Sarimanok Knights were born in Akai, trained from the local warriors here who already rode upon Sarimanok when they unleashed their raids, Virbanwa has also taken to breeding these rainbow raptors to create a sarimanok cavalry of their own. However, theirs is smaller than the colorful plumage and gigantic wings of the sarimanok of the Kalanawan region. If you choose to become a Sarimanok Knight, ask yourself when you started training, and for what reason? To protect your datu? To save yourself? Your family? Why would you bring a majestic creature into the heat of a skirmish, of a tactical engagement, where both of you are poised to die?

Discipline Traits HP: 10 - Style: Sentinel Weapons: Halberd, lance, spears, kampilan, bolo, pira, janap Armors: Headwrap, cuirass, tassets, pants, metal boots, peaked helmets, elephant hide breastplate

Raptor Knight

Sarimanok eggs are found at the end of a rainbow. They are hatched and trained by a Knight from birth. Sarimanok imprint upon their Knight and will only be ridden by their knight. Their rainbow feathers never disappear, and when they die they turn pale grey, and they bleed their color.

As a Sarimanok Knight, you might be mounted upon a sarimanok, or some other similar avian, though you can choose to not have a mount at all, and simply channel the spirit of a raptor. When you Rush, you Fly for the duration of the Rush. When you make a Melee Attack, cleanse 1 Bane from self.

Arrows of Heaven

Sarimanok exist across the isles, under a variety of different names. A king of these sarimanok can be found within Galura, the creator of Stormwinds, who erupts from the depths of volcanoes and summons thunderstorms crackling with crimson lightning. In his heavenly garden Jamiyun Kulisa of the Thunderbolt kept a thousand sarimanok to keep it beautiful. The most skilled of sarimanok knights are run through with the holy ancient lightning bolt of Galura, an aspect of Jamiyun Kulisa (some say mount, others say they have no correlation at all), which bolsters their abilities.

2/Fulmination, you can Smite a target in range 2: a burning razor feather ready to punish them for misdeeds. Choose the Smite. Smites don’t stack and vanish at the start of your Fulmination. _ARROW Smite Indolence: If the target does not move at least 2 squares by the end of their Fulmination, rush 3 toward them. _ARROW Smite Ferocity: If the target makes an attack on an ally, inflict 1 True Hit on the attacker. _ARROW Smite Pride: If the target attacks you, inflict Burn on them equal to the number of Hits they scored (before Defends). Burn reduces 1HP every start and end of Fulmination. _ARROW Smite Indulgence: If the target is healed, gains Boons, or positive Ability Mods, inflict POS/RES-1. _ARROW Smite Hatred: If the target ends their Fulmination further than 5 squares from you, you may Pull 3.

Inflict Violences Heaven’s Eye [1]: Fire a burning weapon. Ranged Air Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 4. If the target is 4 squares away, may rush 1 toward them. Raptor Javelin [1]: Strike down with your weapon, letting rainbow blades cascade from it. Melee Air Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 2. Sarimanok Flight [1]: Strike up with rainbow blades. Melee Air Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target, inflicting Juggle per 6+.

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Sarimanok Knight Techniques Tempest Garuda Lance Gather all that you know and summon a lithe and little hurricane to rend through the battlefield. A technique taught by Kartike themself, who arrived before ancient warriors in the Footsteps of the Gods before Akai was even established and taught them the divinity of the sarimanok, and their omen being.

Spend 1 Beat to send a flurrious blade across the battlefield: Area Air Bravery Attack vs all chosen targets in Line 3. +1 Beat to increase the range to Path 6. +1 Beat to inflict Provoke on the target.

Prereq: Tempest Garuda Lance Spend 1 Beat to pull up any square adjacent to you, turning it into difficult terrain, and you are now considered holding a chunk of earth (which you can only hold up to 2 of). While holding the chunk of earth, you have cover.

Manaul Stone Raid Manaul, The King of Raptors and Fireflies, was once a king of the earthless seasky. He had owl counselors and fireflies to light his path. However he was never satiated, and tired of flying all the time, he tricked the sky and sea kings to fight each other, to create land.

For 1 Beat you can throw the chunk of earth at any square in range 4, putting down a Size 1 Boulder on the square, and inflicting Push 1 on all targets adjacent to the square (including any target on the chosen square).

Sky Cloak Pamaagi The Sarimanok, holy omen birds, ascend into the sky and burst into the winds, and you become one with them. Sarimanok Knights are known for being one of the quickest warriors in the lands, able to fight and hunt down skyships. An ancient story about the Sarimanok is about how the Elder Rajah Indarapatra, King of Mournful Compassion, fell in love with a certain Moon Spirit, said to have been later an incarnation of Baginda Sumongsuklay herself. When the Moon Spirit, named Bayi Bulan, ascended to the moon, Indarapatra wept, until a sarimanok that was his umalagad for so long offered to take him to the moon, where Indarapatra is said to now live in eternal happiness.

Prereq: Manaul Stone Raid Spend 2 Beats to take on the Sky Cloak Stance. While in this stance, you ignore all terrain. When you are the target of an attack, you can consume this stance to gain +1 Defend and then Slide 2 the attacker after they make their attack. +1 Beat to make it so that you Fly whenever you move while in the Stance.

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KADUNGGANAN Kartike’s Arrow The First Sarimanok Knight was said to have been the son of Siwa, the Triumphant and Auspicious God, who is very frequently known as Rajah Indarapatra of the Thunderclouds in more modern Akai literature. His eldest son, Yskanda Kartike, Archer of the Rainbow Raptor, was said to have come down upon the world upon the Sarimanok that took his father to the moon. There he taught the truths of the Sarimanok Knight, and how to properly befriend them, and how to treat them not as a horse but as a fierce brother. Yskanda Kartike eventually helped the ancient Put’wanon King Sri Bata Shaja conquer much of the Gatusan Isles in an ancient war, now lost to memory.

Prereq: Sky Cloak Pamaagi Spend 2 Beats to fire a burning arrow of incandescent fulgur: Area Fire Bravery Attack vs all chosen targets in Line 6, inflicting a starmark on each target. Whenever a fighter makes an attack against a fighter with a starmark, you may consume the starmark to fire arrows of Kartike against them, inflicting +1 Hit per starmark consumed.

Shah Vayu’s Vengeant Javelin The Sarimanok are also the loyal steeds of Shah Vayu, known also as the Storm Prince, who ruled an ancient empire of floating isles to the east of the Footsteps of the Gods. It was destroyed when Jamiyun Kulisa released his arrows to kill the great Fen Ying, God of Heaven Mountain in the continent that is now known as Baik Hu. As apology, Shah Vayu’s kingdom was turned into an eternal city in the fourth heaven. He is seeking revenge now, however. In his ambition, he seeks to take Jamiyun Kulisa’s Thunderbolt for himself and become the new God of Thunder and Lightning.

Enlightenment: Sultan Dewa Bagyu’s Lance Sultan Dewa Bagyu is the ancient god of monsoon season storms, the most powerful of all the storms. He is very frequently said to be an aspect of Jamiyun Kulisa, and is the grandfather of the four monsoon winds. Ancient stories quote that Shah Vayu believed himself to be his incarnation, and was his key to becoming an ancient God King of his now crumbling kingdom in the Fourth Heaven. Sultan Dewa Bagyu can control all the winds of the Monsoons to change the entire world.

Prereq: Shah Vayu’s Vengeant Javelin Spend 1 Beat to choose 1 square in range 4, sending a fulminating rainbow lightning spear at it. Inflict 1 Hit on every enemy within burst 1 of the square and then give them Daze. +1 Beat to make the Daze into a Stun instead. +1 Beat to slide 3 each target.

at strike 3+, for 1 beat, fly into the sky, removing yourself from the battlefield. at the start of your next fulmination, choose a burst 1 area and plummet into the middle of the burst, then deal bravery+faith against all fighters within. all enemies in the burst gain juggle x3, and you become flying for the rest of violence. afterwards, change the weather into the consummate storm. within the consummate storm, all non-attack hits are canceled and all air attacks have overwhelming. all allies have cover against all attacks of all fighters, and all opponents suffer daze.

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KADUNGGANAN Singers of the Dirge of Gubat Banwa, Exalters of Healing Through Violence, Chanters of the Sorrowsong, The Chorus That Watches The Sword Isles. The only two times tawo do not sing is when they are asleep or when they are dead. Strifesingers use their voices, instruments, and ritual dances to heal and support their allies. They have created The Sorrowsong, a martial art that uses song and instruments to mystically empower their allies and produce concussive vibrations. With their healing song stories and their invigorating cacophonies, they pave the melody for a new world. Their art is one crafted by local Siganon, and then perfected by Bulanan pandita, aligning their empowering notes with the soft philosophies of the moon to create a singer that can heal the world. Most settlements that have Strifesingers learn the martial art of the Sorrowsong from other Strifesingers, although they mostly only accept students that already know how to play a few instruments, or have beautiful voices. Their voices and music do not only heal and support: some of their techniques employ the use of violent sound waves to blast enemies off of their feet, or to make weapons dance quicker. Grandmasters of the Sorrowsong teach the secret to amplifying instruments into thundering sonic waves that blast enemies off of their feet. The Sorrowsong Style also deals in letting their healing kalag bolster their allies’ own. Their songs from the myriad of instruments they learn summon spirits, as most of them are entreaties and pleas to the Daghan to help them in their war. Thus is the secret of a Strifesinger. Strifesingers are few and far between. They are usually well respected by other instrumentalists and musicians, who usually do not take up the responsibility of war, or if they do, keep their music out of it. Very often, professional mourners (known as Parahaya) often become Strifesingers as well, combining their grieving with the act of violence to quicken the act of mourning.

Discipline Traits HP: 9 - Style: Medium Weapons: Instruments, Knives, Kudyapi, Agung, Tolali, Zither, Bamboo Flute, Nose Flute Armors: Headwraps, sashes, sarong, silk jackets, paruka, malong, skirts

Thundering Instruments

“Sword clashes, gunshots, the ringing of war gongs, songs, lies, promises, violence… These are all things that demand repetition, for no other reason but to be heard, again and again. Love, after all, is at its best when it repeats itself.”

When you make a Faith Attack, give an ally in burst 2 BRV+1

Song of Sorrows

Professional mourners across The Sword Isles are paid to wail and gnash teeth for important figures. This spirit of grief permeates the isles. It penetrates even you. The Song of Sorrow, nevertheless, is a martial art. An art for violence. This violent vesper, which contains two ambahan (a kind of poetry, you should know, that is sung; two lines, 7 syllables each, and make sense if the two lines are interchanged) that feed each other forever, is a song about the truth of battle: violence for violence’s sake is the rule of beasts and the divinity of man. When violence is used to find truths about mortal nature, and not to kill, gain wealth, or accrue power, is when we become more than what we are.

You have a Singing Aura that is a burst 3 around you that moves with you. You can perform the following songs, giving the benefit to any ally within the burst: 0 Respite Song. For 1 Beat, roll FTH and heal an ally equal to the number of Hits. 0 Thundering Song. For 1 Beat, 1 ally may Rush 1. 0 Protective Song. For 1 Beat, give 1 ally POS/RES+1. 0 Haste Song. For 1 Beat, give 1 ally SPD+1.

Strifesingers tend to be bleeding hearts, especially in such a stage as war, wherein they would readily compose dirges for foes they have just killed, or about lost allies, or about the nature of the wheel that is unbroken due to war. In recent times, Strifesingers are known in Akai as Katib. They sing not only the sorrows of this world, but also the orations and prayers in the religious services of the Bulanan faith. Strifesingers memorize the words upon the books of faith of Bulanan, and they use these truths to heal the wounds of the battlefield. When you become a Strifesinger, ask yourself why you sing the warsong: you are complicit to the cycle, your conscience is bloodied. Why does your healing song only bring more sorrow? Why does your invigorating tale bring violence? Whether it is yours, your allies’, or your enemies?

Inflict Violences Thundering Note [1]: Strum a reverberating tune. Put down a thundering note in a square adjacent to you. Allies can move into it to rush 1 (and then continue their movement afterwards) and cannot collide with it. Enemies that collide with the note is pushed 1. Healing Note [1]: Resound a rejuvenating song. Put down a healing note in a square adjacent to you. Any ally that moves into or collides with it heals 1. Resound! [1]: Let loose a chorus! Area Air Faith Attack vs all chosen targets in Blast 4.

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Strifesinger Techniques Paean To The Unexalted A song that hearkens to ancient warriors that have died in fight and ascended to the Sky upon the rainbow. There was one particular warband, a troop, who followed the Datu Kinalagtuman, Consummate Brightness, who stayed behind to defend against the assault of Ratu Kyai Gede, Crucible of Weeping, Queen of Ancient Medang. The Datu defended his island when he and that warband, forever remembered as the Unexalted, beseeched the diwata of their island: a Serpent God named Maharaya, the Great Streaking, to let them keep fighting. The Unexalted were granted this: instead of ascending to the Sky, their souls instead became Umalagad that protected their island even in death. And so Ancient Medang was not able to conquer their island, and to this day the Unexalted still protect that island.

spend 1 beat to grant a fighter in burst 3 or self, the blessing of the porcelain lady: the target gains protect. spend 2 beats to grant every fighter in burst 3, including yourself, protect. spend 3 beats to grant every ally in the battlefield, including yourself, protect.

Litany of the Porcelain Lady This is a song that sings of Bayi Makadiyah, Porcelain Lady of Mournful Miracles, a healer-witch who was also the incarnation of Mother Madiyah, the Virgin Bearer of the One Destined to Die, Maiden of the Valley of Tears. Madiyah is a goddess brought from the bloody faith of Issohappa and indigenized across the islands where the Sanguine Missionaries reached. As an avatar of Mother Madiyah, she was revered by her settlement, and she could summon rains during dry spells, and kill with just a word. She was eventually killed by a jealous datu, but her death curse was that his name would never be remembered. Bayi Makadiyah is now revered as a god, and has a number of cults about the Sword Isles dedicated to her. Her idol is usually a weeping woman (her face is never shown) made of porcelain or earthenware, never earth. Her icon is very frequently an enclosed square with a triangle within.

prereq: paean to the unexalted for 1 beat, choose 1 fighter in range 4 and give them block 1 and stability. for 2 beats: give all fighters in burst 2, including yourself, block 1 and stability +1 beat: give block 3 and stability x2.

Song of the Ancients

prereq: litany of the porcelain lady

This song was sung by the first singer, a demigoddess whose name has been lost to time. She sang it to calm the two mountains that warred in a distant land. She died in the process, but became the clouds and the sky. The mountains continued on and killed each other, however, as they were bolstered by grief.

spend 2 beats to may inflict violence, and then slide 2 the target. at any point in the slide, you or an ally may inflict violence against them. spend +1 beat to increase the slide to slide 4.

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KADUNGGANAN Respite In Tranquility A remembrance to the ancient times of the Sword Isles, when it was called the Isles of Gold, back when war was the furthest from the minds of warriors. Back when songs were sung under peach trees, songs about play, about the great conflict of the Twin Gods of the Northwest Wind and the Southeast Monsoon, about the dancing of monkeys and mouse deers. The Tranquil Missionaries from the Far Southeast brought with them Gods of Tranquility.

Kulintang of Heaven “Bear rapture and sorrow.” A song taught by the great warlord-paraawit apo-apo Singpuksa and since adapted by Awitan all across the archipelago. A song that quickens the hearts and souls of the beings that hear it, inexplicably, sometimes bringing heroes to jovial tears. Sing full and true, Singer. Your song, your steps... It shall culminate in this moment. Your song shall be the song of a thousand weary ghosts, that sorrowsong: let them hear the cries of your heart, the blood of your soul.

prereq: song of the ancients spend 2 beats, heal 1 all allies in burst 2 of you, and then take on the resounding stance as you begin playing a healing tune. while in the resounding stance, all allies that start their turn in burst 2 of you heal 1. when you end your fulmination, you may end resounding stance to give pos+2/res+2 x2 to yourself and all allies in burst 2.

Prereq: Respite in Tranquility Spend 1 Beat to give yourself or an ally in range 3 Conditioning against all elements and Block 1. +1 Beat to give it to yourself and all allies in burst 3. +1 Beat to give the targets Regen x3.

Enlightenment: Vesper of the Conquering King The song of Rajaraya is lost now, no doubt a sad consequence of his great ambition. His mission and his achievements were liable to make him the most famous of all ancestors: he was the Conquering Giant-King, the one who will seize heaven’s thunderclaps, who will destroy the gates of the sky and seize Jamiyun Kulisa’s Thunderbolt. It is said that he succeeded, but that he also failed. The truth is now long forgotten, and some say that the Conquering Giant-King still walks this world, or that his corpse can be found within the deep cavern complexes that can be found near the mountain of Tauhaw, where the grand Rajahnate of Gatusan stakes its center.

At the beginning of Violence, you and all allies gain a Perfect Tempo. When you are the target of an attack, you can consume the Perfect Tempo to immediately cancel that attack against you and then rush 3. at strike 4+, for 1 beat, all allies in the battlefield can take 4 beats on their next fulmination.

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KADUNGGANAN Shaman Knights of the Seas and Rivers, of the Swordfish, Warriors that Medium the Tides of the Sea Swordfish Cavaliers are shaman knights of the Swordfish, the vahana of the Seasword God Margosatubig. As spirit mediums and skilled riders of the balu, the balu mount they summon is a little god, who lives in a talisman that they wear around their necks. They can summon this balu at almost any time, as long as the balu can fit. The balu are giant swordfish with noses sharper than spears and wings as large as an eagle’s. While they require water to breathe, they can stay up in the air for quite some time. Swordfish Cavaliers are trained by the best of the best in their villages, as taming a balu is an entire endeavor all to itself. One must train a balu since their infancy to form a proper connection with them. Since balu are one of the quickest animals in The Sword Isles, they have been used to corrale and subdue enemy advances in war. Balu are outfitted with chain linked mails and hardwood armors as well. Swordfish Cavaliers are said to have a distant rivalry with the other riding Disciplines, particularly the buwaya riders. This is because they have both been invented by enemy villages. Riding a balu is a sacred act of oneness with nature, and requires a balyan ritual to officiate. Swordfish Cavaliers are known to use bamboo or hardwood recurve bows for their choice of weapon, or any other long-ranged implement, to attack and skewer from mid-range. Swordfish Cavaliers know the lay of the land and they know the movement of the sea. If you were a Swordfish Cavalier you must’ve begun your childhood close to water, whether it be a pond or the ocean. You are intimate with the ways of fishing, wielding harpoon and net to catch your prey. If anyone needs a helping hand when it comes to fishing and hunting, Swordfish Cavaliers are usually well-trained in this regard. Swordfish Cavaliers tend to be the first into a battle, with their superior speed being able to move them across the battlefield with relative ease. Due to their mounts, they will be usually tasked with jobs or duties that would need quick movement or ability to float a few feet over land and water. While balu can submerge, the riders usually cannot hold their breath for long. Swordfish Cavaliers constitute the elite cavalry of the Sultana. Elite Swordfish Cavaliers are exalted and trained from birth, and are reared up in the closest way of the Bulanan. Swordfishes are ancient and holy animals that were ridden by Baginda Sumongsuklay Themself, and were the holy steeds of Ayah Menat, the First Prophet, when they had to travel the Two Thousand and One Oceans to reach the Sword Isles. The most elite Swordfish Cavaliers are the Cavalry of Datu Margosatubig, in a distant island north of Kalanawan. This island, called Salagunting, is said to actually be the top of an underwater coral kingdom named Sugnanti. The balu here are larger, and have sharper swordnoses, and are said to rush through both air and water like arrows loosed by the sea king.

Discipline Traits HP: 7 - Style: Sharpshooter Weapons: Bows, guns, crossbows, spears, lances, swords, axes, hammers Armors: Silk jackets, sashes, robes, sarongs, malongs

Sea Satariya

As a Swordfish Cavalier, you might be mounted upon a swordfish, or some other similar piscine creature, though you can choose to not have a mount at all, and simply channel the spirit of a fish.

Whenever you make a water attack, gain a Deluge, represented by waters flowing about you. You can spend any number of Deluge after rolling a Violence Cast to a number of non-Hits into Hits (on either the Attack or Defense Teeth) or into Hits per Deluge spent. While you have 1+ Deluge, you may rush 1 once either before or after making an attack. While you have 3+ Deluge, your melee or ranged water attacks splash: inflict 1 Hit on all enemies adjacent to one target of the attack.

Stormwind Rider

The first Swordfish Cavalier found that the God of the Sea, Hakasalug, known as Varunaraja (King of Waters), took upon the Swordfish as his holy beast form. The first Swordfish Cavalier, a fisher-warrior named Hiling Makar, immediately prostrated and offered sacrifices when he found out, but Hakasalug found this to be endlessly amusing, and so he allowed Hiling Makar to establish the ancient Coral Knight Art, creating the first of the Swordfish Warriors.

When you Rush, you dive into the earth as a being of water: you ignore all terrain and height. Then you gain a Water Form until end of next Fulmination: all your attacks can become Water Attacks and you heal any Hits from Water Attacks instead of suffering them.

Inflict Violences Water Spear [1]: Shoot a jetstream spear of water. Ranged Water Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 5, inflict Water Vulnerability. Sea Javelin [1]: Let loose a beam of burning water. Area Water Faith Attack vs all chosen targets in Line 3. Ocean Blade [1]: Strike with a blade of water. Area Water Faith Attack vs all chosen targets in path 4 within 4 squares.

If you become a Swordfish Cavalier, ask yourself: why do you ride upon the wings of legends to inflict violence? The folly of men dapples your arrowhead, why must you enslave nature to scatter your enemies’ entrails upon the ground?

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Swordfish Cavalier Techniques Seafoam Slide

spend 1 beat to rush 2 and then gain +1d on your next water attack.

Taught by Hiling Makar as he was well versed in the arts of the bow before becoming the first Swordfish Cavalier. With this, you fire a piercing jet of water from your bow, shredding through armor.

spend +1 beat to inflict water vulnerability on all enemies adjacent to you after the rush.

prereq: seafoam slide

Sea Lantaka

spend 1 beat to fire a sea orb: area water faith attack vs all targets in burst 2 within range 5.

A skill invented by the old Balu Warlord Panglima Sumarak, who brought with him a giant lantaka cannon as a weapon to destroy stone fortifications. By using this technique, you channel that old Balu Warlord, and summon his lantaka.

+1 beat to also inflict pull 1 to all chosen targets. +1 beat to gain the following effect: if you are caught within the burst of the orb, heal 1.

prereq: sea lantaka

Ocean Joust Style

for 1 beat, you can rush 5 in a straight line, moving through enemies. inflict 1 true hit on every enemy you move through.

“Seek true glory before the water that nourishes you becomes your blood,” – Agi Sindarak, a Swordfish Cavalier warlord from the polity of Ikadan in Kalanawan. With this Technique, you embody the Satariya. You are heralded by the sounds of bodyong resound, kettlebells against sharp coral weapons.

+1 beat to rush 6 but not constrained to a single straight line, but you cannot move through a square you’ve already moved through.

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KADUNGGANAN Moon Princess Style The Moon is perfectly intertwined with the sea. It is long said that an aspect of the Moon, Tsandila Dayawa, came down as a beautiful winged lunar woman, named Ayakassa Ravena, and Hakasalug fell in love with her, which caused him to stop teaching Hiling Makar the rest of his knowledge. Thus the Coral Knight Art is eternally imperfect, but there is a sect of Swordfish Cavalier’s that argue that this is good, and is their responsibility to continue mastery. This Technique exemplifies this story: the moon becomes a sign of the times, a mark of glory. You summon moon spirits with a prayer and you shoot it with an arrow, or pierce it with a lance, exploding the moon and letting it splash in every direction.

Storm Surge Style The waterfall cascades and flows. You rush up it, and send the haze of the falls upon you. Perfected by a later student of the Coral Knight Art, Abuy, who kept trying to climb up a waterfall.

Prereq: Ocean Joust Style Spend 1 beat to call the moon to the field: place the moon in a free adjacent square as an object. if the moon suffers any hits (it does not have any defenses), it explodes, dealing 2 true hits to all fighters in burst 2 of it. +1 beat to summon the moon in a square in burst 3. +1 beat to give the moon 5hp before it explodes.

Prereq: Moon Princess Style Spend 1 Beat to rush 3. Make every square you move through into water terrain. +1 Beat to make the water terrain overflow: inflict 1 Hit on every enemy adjacent to the water terrain you just put down. +1 Beat to inflict violence after the rush.

Enlightenment: Knight-Lord of the Seas In the ancient of days there was a great deluge that brought all of the Sword Isles underwater. This deluge was said to be the wrath of Baginda for all the cruelty in thee world. Unfortunately, their punishment did not end the cycles of violence. It was said that this deluge is what buried the great ancient continent of Samrasat under the sea. You envelop yourself in rushing waves and salt sea brine, which takes on the form of the King of the Sea, high and mighty, with a crown of coral reefs and a mount of six thousand balu. You and your Balu share each other’s eyes. Spirit torrents guide your arrow shots. Your weapon turns into a shrike of pure jet water, which you hurl against your enemy. Your balu becomes as the royal balu of Tuwan Margosatubig.

When you move into or start your Fulmination in water terrain, heal 1. for 2 beats at strike 4+, slide 2 every chosen target in the field, and then every square of water terrain explodes, dealing 2 true hits to every target in burst 1 of them.

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KADUNGGANAN Devil Witches of the Battlefield, Masters of Witchpowder, The Bullet Through God’s Skull “The First Technique of Gun is this: No amount of running can save you. Pay fealty, and prostrate yourself upon the bullet throne of Balahari Gilusot.” Baril Witches, otherwise known as balapari, are riflemen that use powerful arquebuses gained through trade and replicated by native panday sa luthang (gunsmiths). These bullets can only be fired by a certain magenta witchdust created by witches across the world. Baril Witches are peerless experts in the art of using the arquebuses, and they have the immaculate ability to be able to reload quickly, as if they were a bow and an arrow. Guns in Gubat Banwa are slow and ponderous. To reload them is a tedious, multi-stepped endeavor. They are dangerous, but better treated as opening fire, nothing more but something to level the field. However, Baril Witches use a variety of gun sorceries, special spells specifically only usable with guns, to blast through the enemies’ defense. With their skill, they can instantly reload their guns, sorcerously bypassing the limits of the gun. Baril Witches are trained to be hopelessly intimate with their weapon, learning the diwata of their particular gun-not just guns in general--to be able to be efficient in the battlefield. With hand mudras and incanted mantras they can summon bullets and change their trajectories even in mid-flight. They can spin and juggle guns and hit their target without seeing the target, due to their intimate connection with their gun. Training a Baril Witch takes years, thus making them wanted in Kadungganan parties and war armies. They’re in high demand, but there are a low number of Baril Witches. They are thus treated as elite artillery and long ranged units, and elite skirmishing parties that are intended to kill will always have at least one in their ranks. Baril Witches, however, are almost always strange in the head. Their soul has been shaped into a bullet, after all. Baril Witches arose from the ranks of the Lakanate after the witches of the wood were given the chance to serve the Lakan and be treated as nobility if they helped with the war efforts against Issohappa. A large contingent agreed, but other witches disagreed, going off to fight Issohappa on the sides of the Rajahnate or Apumbukid. Those that joined the Lakanate were given the moniker of “Starknelt”, for they knelt to the power of the Ashen Star.

Discipline Traits HP: 7 - Style: Sharpshooter Weapons: Terakuls, matchlocks, arquebuses, lantakas, cetbangs, baril Armors: Silk jackets, war jackets, war hats, arristocrat vestments, sarongs, bahag, pants, boots

Gun Mastery

You have peerless control of your gun, surpassing the limits of matchlock, flintlock, and arquebus. Through your skill, you bond with a spirit that has arisen from your gun. Guns were invented in the ancient of days by a god, who was killed by the Sage of Spears, he who had perfected the art of piercing. “With this implement piercing shall become a lesser art!” The Sage of Spears hath said. Therefore thou must keep in mind the art of piercing. It is no frail, baser art. It is, in fact, the most perfect art, a forgotten art. The Art of Cutting reminds one of dichotomy. The Art of Piercing shows you that all things can become one.

When you make an attack against any marked target, gain Skewering for that attack.

Channel The Gun god

The originator of the Baril Witch’s Blasphemous Bullet was a gun foundry owner in old Tundun who communed with Balahari Gilusot, the King of Bullets, and learned the secrets of piercing, an ancient art that is sister only to the sacred act of cutting. The secret of piercing has a branch of knowledge that deals with bullets, which always pierce through. It is called the art of Lodging.

Whenever you start your Fulmination you load your Gun: gaining 1 Guncharge. Every 1-3 on Fire Attack Teeth grants 1 Guncharge. You can gain up to 6 Guncharges. If you gain a Guncharge that puts you over 6, your gun explodes, dealing 2 True Hit to you and all targets in burst 2. While you have Guncharges, gain the following benefits, equal to the number of Guncharges you currently have: 1+ Guncharge: Mark all enemies that you Hit with your ranged and area attacks. 3+ Guncharge: When you make a ranged attack, spend all Guncharge to give the attack Overwhelming. 5+ Gun Charge: When you make a ranged attack, spend all Guncharge to make another Inflict Violence immediately after, ignoring Combo Breaker.

Thus, there is a tradition among the more conventional witches in Rusunuga to spite or even pity baril witches. The Star-knelt worked with these guns to create the Gun God Engraves, which gave rise to Baril Witches. Baril Witches are chosen from an early age, usually those who have aptitude to sorcery. Thus, many baril witches in the ranks of the Lakanate are not too happy with their forced setup. Baril Witches have since spread across the archipelago, with the other notable creator of baril witches being the Akai Sultanate, who harness moondust to strengthen their guns. If you choose to become a Baril Witch, ask yourself why you have taken up secret knowledge only to inflict violence. Why do you use your knowledge and power to inflict violence? Why have you picked up the gun? No blood on your gun; it is the bullets and sorcery that kill. Did you pick up the gun out of necessity or out of cowardice?

Inflict Violences Sinful Bullet [1]: Shoot a bullet infused with the sins of your own excess. Ranged Fire Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 5, inflict 1 Hit on a square adjacent to the target, then gain 1 Guncharge. Impyerno [1]: Overload your gun and let out a stream of flame. Area Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in blast 3. Juggle Guns [1]: Shoot, toss, reload, then shoot again using your kinaadman to telekinetically pull the trigger while the gun twirls in the air. Area Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in burst 1, then gain 1 Defend until the start of your next Fulmination.

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Baril Witch Techniques Kalabit Diablo The Art of Piercing is exemplified by serpents that can burrow into the thick soils and foliage of the great deep forests. Thus follow their way: burrow, spiral, destroy. All things will be broken through. That is the art of piercing. Who needs a spear when bullets can pierce through hearts just as well?

Spend 1 Beat to take on the Kalabit Diablo Stance until the end of your next Fulmination. When you deal 2+ Hits on an attack, consume the stance and then roll a d4: fire a number of bullets equal to the result of the d4 at any target in range 3, inflicting 1 True Hit per Bullet. Each target can only be hit once.

prereq: kalabit diablo

Bullet Spirit Art

spend 1 beat to summon 1 bullet in any free squares in range 3. any fighter that collides with the bullet suffers 1 hit, then the bullet vanishes.

You spin, unleashing bullets, and then utter the mentala for the passing of days. Contort it with your spirituality. Time stops for the bullets, and at the end of it all, reckoning.

spend 1 beat to slide 2 any number of bullets.

prereq: bullet spirit art

Impale God Stance

spend 1 beat to take on the impale god stance, wherein you put your gun on a stand. you suffer stop while in this stance, but you have +2 to any attacks with range and +2d to all ranged attacks. spend 1 beat to remove it from the stand, removing the stop.

The creator of the Baril Witch art was a blacksmith named Pire, who traveled the length of the Sword Isles and collected knowledge about the art of piercing. He learned a particular gun technique that lets him infuse his bullets with god-killing strength while upon a stand.

+1 beat when you take upon the stance to make your attacks skewering.

Crimson Steel Rain

prereq: impale god stance

Flash up, and then spin, dance about, send shots in every direction possible. Nothing can escape your path. Guns were invented in the ancient of days by a god, who was killed by the Sage of Spears, who had perfected the art of piercing. “With this implement piercing shall become a lesser art!” The Sage of Spears hath said. Therefore thou must keep in mind the art of piercing. It is no frail, baser art. It is, in fact, the most perfect art, a forgotten art. The Art of Cutting reminds one of dichotomy. The Art of Piercing shows you that all things can become one.

spend 1 beat to leap over your targets: rush 2, ignoring height and terrain, making the following attack at any point in the movement: area fire faith attack vs all chosen targets in burst 1. +1 beat to rush 4 instead. +1 beat to inflict fray on every enemy you move through.

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Shotgun Psalm Quoth Mangkukulam: “My Gun shall go against the Almighty. With this bullet, I shall spit in the face of God. Let Him face the force of the shooting star. I am Mangkukulam, and my flame shall never die. Not even God can extinguish my fire with His drool.” Send a barrage across the entire battlefield, as if you summon bullets and arrows from the gods. You impart the divine grace of your diwata upon the battlefield. 777 arms carry 777 guns about you.

Enlightenment: Shoot God In The Head “Anything it takes,” the ancestors tell you. Anything it takes to win? You’ve forged such an intimate connection with your GUN. “The gun is but a tool,” BALAHARI GILUSOT tells you. “Do not get attached to beings that have never been human. Fool, kill it! Kill it now! Before it realizes your soul and shoots itself through you! A Gun Diwata is new and excited, and it does not know yet its power. The power to level entire nations. Now KILL IT! Bask in the bullet hell you’ve made, witch!”

prereq: crimson steel rain spend 1 beat to make the following piercing attack: area fire faith attack vs all targets in path 4 +1 beat to increase the range to path 6 +1 beat to inflict res-1 x2 on every target hit.

Whenever you inflict a True Hit, inflict 1 Hit on every enemy adjacent to the target of the True Hit. at strike 4+, spend 3 beats to shoot the god of your gun, releasing bullet hell upon the battlefield: for the rest of violence, whenever an enemy leaves a square, they suffer 1 true hit.

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KADUNGGANAN Holy Masters of the Sword Kinaadman, Disciples of the Art of Cutting, Knights of Diwa Bladeweavers are peerless swordsorcery knights, using their skill with the Sword Kinaadman, or Sword Wisdom to strengthen their slashes and manipulate the battlefield with flying swords, like the winds of a dragon. Through a seamless weaving of enchantment and swordplay, they dominate the battlefield. The Bladeweavers are so called because the first of them, a kawal, or guardsman, of the City of Broken Idols named Palaliwah, learned how to use mentala, spells that were written in the ancient Old Matara language, the older form of the Matara lingua franca in the isles. These writings, usually written upon bamboo and palm leaf manuscripts with with Kasuratan, were to be uttered repeatedly like a mantra by someone of volatile pohon, so that the spells may be cast. Palaliwah began a loose order of Bladeweavers by teaching those kawal that she could, those that had either inherently powerful pohon or were eager to learn, and the teachings spread throughout the Archipelago. Eventually, Palaliwah settled in the Lakanate, becoming a right-hand counselor to the First Lakan, and an integral part of those that overthrew the Issohappan invasion. From then on, the royal guard and the elite were taught in the Sword Sorceries. This proved to have been the Lakanate’s largest asset in the Lakan Conspiracy, as Bladeweavers could use magic to attain a false enlightenment for a short amount of time to teleport great distances. A particular Bladeweaver named Maranan, the Leaf Dancing in Cutting Fields, used this to steal Pale King intel from a galleon in the middle of the night, and she fended off at least two Pale King elite warriors to get the info back to the Lakanate. Unfortunately, she disappeared into nothingness the next night. The Bladeweavers are taught in mageknight academies in Rusunuga, although there are not a lot of them. In fact, the style has flourished even more in the Rajahnate, where they combined the magical formulas on mentala and mixed it with their impeccable swordsmanship to enhance their raiding capabilities. Bladeweavers in Gatusan are known as Alamdag Sagiban, Magic Sheathes. Bladeweaver swordplay is much respected by many of the warriors of the Archipelago, wheren they fuse not just swordsmanship but all sorts of weaponry into their sorcery. It presents a transcendent fusion of two powerful forces, all affixed with a beautiful dance-like martial art, which has been called Habul-Sulab, or blade-weaving. Bladeweavers are taught to be careful of their power, and to only accept chiefly patrons that would honor their ability. Those that they know wouldn’t be using them for only wealth-gaining ends. Bladeweavers are taught a strict oral code known as the Sword Oath that boils down to: protect those that cannot protect themselves, dismantle those that hold oppressive power. Bladeweavers are respected for their oath, and they are well known across the Archipelago as altruist weapon sorcerers, although not all Bladeweavers have such an altruistic mindset in the war ravaged land of The Sword Isles.

Discipline Traits HP: 9 - Style: Medium Weapons: Kalis, prayer beads, prayer strips, mudras, ululations, pinute, ginunting, long kampilan Armors: Shawls, boots, sandals, pants, war jackets, breastplates, war hats, peaked helmets, cuirasses

Sword and Sorcery Cast Aloft!

The Perfect Meditation of the Blade is this: remember the teaching of Conjunction. The sword is nothing but a tool. In fact, it was not made for killing in the first place. Therefore reap and sow and clear new branches, and become a Sword that creates harmony and life.

When you make a Faith Attack, your next Bravery Attack gains +1d. When you make a Bravery Attack, your next Faith Attack heals you 1 HP. When you make a Bravery + Faith Attack, all allies in burst 3 gain SPD+1.

Sword Mage

Mastery of the sword is much more than just mastery of the weapon. It is, in fact, mastery of self, of tradition, of culture. It is the mastery of the principle of cutting, like a rock, oneness with the nature of something. Achieve Hiyang through swordmastery. You are not a weapon to kill, but rather, a weapon to cut away the brambles and tangles that bar you and your people from the future.

At the start of violence, you have 1 Weaving. When you make a melee attack, gain 1 Weaving. You can spend Weaving on any of the following at any time, as an immediate effect. 0 Shield Weave: Spend 1 Weaving when an ally you can see rolls Posture to add your FTH to the roll. 0 Sword Weave: Spend 1 Weaving when an ally you can see rolls their BRV or FTH, add your FTH to the roll. 0 Suture Weave: Spend 1 Weaving to heal 1 ally in range 3 by 2 HP.

Inflict Violences Lightning Blade [1]: Lightning streaks from your blade. Melee Air Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 3, push 1. Kinnara Slash [1]: Slash while retreating in a crosslegging mystick dance. Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target, then you must Rush 1 out of adjacency of the target. Dragon Whip [1]: Strike in a horrible forward arc, like the naga cutting down with its tail. Melee Fire Bravery or Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 2. Then, pull 1 the target toward 1 ally that you can see.

As a Bladeweaver, ask yourself why you have chosen to perfect the Sword Kinaadman, that great act of cutting with magick, and used it to cut swathes through innocent Folk instead of cutting a better path to the future? Violence explodes, and you have taken up the sword and sigil. Prove how you can bring about a better world.

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Bladeweaver Techniques spend 1 beat to inflict 1 hit on a target in range 3, then teleport to a square adjacent to them.

Firebird Mentala Developed by elite Bladeweavers who went to fight in the Thundering Elephant War in the Southeastern Continent, who incorporated Continental Sorcery and Spirituality.

+1 beat to teleport an adjacent ally with you. +1 beat to inflict fire vulnerability on the target.

Hito Mentala

prereq: firebird mentala spend 1 beat to grant self or a fighter in range 3 res+2.

This technique was taught to Bladeweaver Master Sakamada, who earned it after beating a firebreathing naga that lived in the heart of a volcano to submission, and gained its respect. Of course, he was only able to do this after he gained the blessing of an ancient catfish master in the rivers of his hometown, who taught ancient techniques of the Bladeweaver.

spend 2 beats to grant yourself and every fighter in burst 3 pos+1 and res+1. spend 3 beats to grant every ally in the battlefield, including yourself, pos+2 and res+2.

Musang Talon Mentala

Prereq: Hito Mentala

This was taught to Bladeweavers by a traveling cat who chopped trees with a single claw. Your heart sings: your sword is oiled by the blood of your soul. All your strikes will find their way: this was taught to Bladeweavers by a traveling cat who chopped trees with a single claw.

Spend 1 Beat to sharpen your claws. Grant yourself or an ally in range 3 Greater Sharpness [Boon]: the target Hits on a 4+ now. +1 Beat to give Greater Sharpness to self and all allies in burst 2.

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KADUNGGANAN prereq: musang talon mentala

Flying Blade Mentala You bow low and release your blade. It flies, turning the battlefield into its play space. To Guro Sajawadu, this is the ultimate learning of this style. The battlefield becomes one space.

Surat Wanang You summon lightning from your blade to rend space itself, creating portals. Developed by elite Bladeweavers who went to fight in the Thundering Elephant War in the Southeastern Continent, who incorporated Continental Sorcery and Spirituality.

Enlightenment: Hati Tiyempo An incantation mixed with three mudra that speak of swiftness, cutting, and endings. The target of this benefit is imbued with the speed of an unsheathing sword. An advanced technique that is hard to perfect but unfortunately is probably the most important ability of all Bladeweavers. This is a favorite of Master Samasida, a wily hermit found in the island of Bakara near the Ruins of Samrasat, where he studies with wandering souls of that ancient civilization.

spend 1 beat to put down a flying sword (size 1/2 object) adjacent to you. when you or an ally is the target of an attack while adjacent to a flying sword may consume the flying sword to immediately gain 1 defend. +1 beat to put down 2 flying swords in burst 4. +1 beat to strengthen the flying swords: all allies that make melee attacks while adjacent to the flying sword gains +1d.

prereq: flying blade mentala spend 2 beats: choose 2 squares within burst 5 of you. rips emerge from the chosen squares. these can even be placed underneath fighters or objects to immediately teleport them. rip: terrain. when moved into, immediately teleport into an adjacent sq on the other rip.

When you make a melee attack, choose 1 ally in range 3 (or yourself). They gain 1 Tiyempo. When they gain 3 Tiyempo, they immediately gain Haste for the next Strike. While they have Haste, they move first in a Strike, before any other fighter. at strike 3+, you can activate minor liberation. every time you stride, move, or rush, you may teleport that much instead. at strike 4+, inflict 1 true hit on every fighter when you teleport. if you are defeated while you have minor liberation activated, you vanish from reality, unravelling from material.

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KADUNGGANAN Monstrances of Passion, Channelers of Mahadiwa-KALAKATRI, Murder Goddess, Fulfillers of the Promise of Blood

HP: 10 - Style: Sentinel

In the ancient past, the Suladnon of Murder Mahadiwa Kalakatri Duumanun raised an order of warrior-monks whose sole purpose was to use their passions and pain to protect those around them. These revenant martyrs were called the Night’s Penitent, and only a scant few of them remain today. They have been stolen by the Batara Lakan, the Suladnon of Murder turned into Saint Qali.

Weapons: Colossal hammers, giant panabas, ceremonial swords, executioner’s axes, straight sword Armors: Cuirasses, peaked helmets, greaves, tassets, steel sabatons, boots, shoulderguards, bracers, gloves

Those that go through the training of the Karimlan are set out to the middle of the forest or the sea, and taught to face their fears. They must use their Kinaadman to harness their primal passions, their primal emotions, and turn it into powerful sorcery that can strengthen them against their heart. They understand the truth: pain, fear, love, passion, regret; all these things are what makes a human. And thus to embrace them all is the ultimate strength. They get their power from the Suladnon of Murder, the Diwata of Sword Hell. The final initiation of a Murderglave is being immersed into a blood pond before an altar to Mahadiwa Kalakatri Duumanun. Using this near-death experience, they come face to face with the Mother of Ten Thousand Bloody Spears, and they become transcendent. In their transcendence, they come to enlightenment. A petty enlightenment, but still an enlightenment to be sure: that violence should not be the end. This was obvious, they know, but they never wished to admit it. It is like realizing that you are being stabbed in the face by an enemy lance at the last second because you did not bring your shield. Thus, the Murderglave’s passion is inherently hamstrung with regret. Mahadiwa Kalakatri Duumanun always leaves them with the words: “There is no atonement for this, sinner.” They have been cultivated the most by Virbanwa, who creates Murderglave chapels and training monasteries at the edges of Virbanwan territory and conquest. They are inherently distrusted, since they channel their power outside of Sampalataya, the Ashen Star Faith: the Bloody Handed Redemption was created by a datu and his village of Kalakatri faithfuls who lived as warrior-priests, in the northern plains of Rusunuga. The datu is said to have been Datu Sakara, who was killed by El Kampeyador, and subsumed Kalakatri into the greater Saint of Murder and Penitence, Saint Qali. The Murderglaves were integral to the Battle of Binangku Medium, where five poweful Murderglaves stood their ground and staved off an entire Issohappan battalion and river fleet long enough for their allies to be saved by Sinuku war barges.

Discipline Traits

Murder Monstrance

Saint Qali is the Fell Lady of Murder, known as Mahadiwa Kalakatri Duumanun in the religions of the Central Sword Isles. Bloody Handed Redemption teaches all Murderglaves to properly channel them by piercing themselves. A Murderglave channeling Saint Qali is sheathed in night blackness, like a penitent veil, choking them as the one million hands of Kalakatri reach out into the field. Murderglave armors are living iron maidens: they have spikes that dig deeper into the host, so that one never forgets their lifelong penitence, their pain, their sin for inflicting such violence upon this world.

At the beginning of violence, the Murderglave chooses either ST QALI or MAKAYAO, taking upon their aspect. They can shift into the other Aspect by spending 1 Beat. MAKAYAO/MAHAKALA: Multiple hands, Murderous Intent, Peaceful Smile. While in this aspect, Whenever you are attacked, gain a Murder Charge, up to 5. You are immune to all non-attack Hits and have +1 Defend against all attacks, but suffer -1 Speed. ST. QALI/KALAKATRI: Wicked Grin, Burning Eyes, Razor Weapons. While in this aspect, whenever you make a melee attack, you may consume X Murder Charges to add +X Hits when you attack. Additionally, you have +1 Speed.

One With Murder

Mahakala is a forgotten aspect of Bloody Handed Redemption, but Ba-enon Murderglaves remember. Mahakala is the ancient destroyer aspect of BATALA-MALAUN, who together, creates The Time That Destroys, or Inevitability. He is conflated with MAKAYAO, the Child of God who has died once and will return to bring the ending of all things, known also as the Inevitability Maitreya.

When reduced to 0 HP, roll BRV + FTH, healing 1 HP per 8+ rolled, and 3 HP per pair rolled. This only triggers 1/Violence.

Inflict Violence

These passions of the Murderglave manifest as tendrils of darkness, of shadow. They understand that to embrace humanity is to embrace darkness. And that using that darkness, they can bring about life and light. By their pain, they create walls of obsidian. By their fear, they shield their allies. By their love, they grant others another chance.

Lance of Darkness [1]: Strike with a giant weapon. Melee Earth Faith Attack vs all targets in blast 2.

If you become a Murderglave, ask yourself why you have chosen such a bloody path. The Left-Handed Path of the Blackened Blood is not the safest path, and is not the friendliest. Why do you suffer to help others? When you know that all your suffering is potentially in vain?

Censer of Purity [1]: Test your victim’s purity. Choose 1 adjacent fighter. They must inflict 1 Hit against you. If they do, inflict 1 True Hit back at them and inflict Provoke. If they choose not to attack you, they suffer Stun.

Hand of Darkness [1]: Rush forward upon wings of murder. Melee Earth Faith Attack vs 1 close target. Push 1, and then Rush 1 into the square they vacated.

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Murderglave Techniques Spend 1 Beat to strike with the darkness of passion: Melee Earth Faith Attack vs 1 adjacent target, inflicting Provoke (+1 per 6+ on the Attack Teeth.)

Sinful Blade "You must remember the pain of this, of trying to discover who you are. For now, keep quiet, fester in your trauma." "Sister, is this healthy?" "Healthy? God no. But you are not here to be healthy. You are here to love yourself."

+1 Beat to inflict SPD-1 on the target. +1 Beat to change the target to all chosen fighters in blast 2.

Scarlet Edge of Love Perfect your passion and let it cool. Others might let their passion flare and burn and it will peter out, as all fires do. You? You have tempered it, forged it into steel. This is a technique perfected by Saint Sagrado, who traveled the island chain known as Jamiyun Kulisa’s arrows to learn from the sorcerers of Batu Perairan. He was killed for his heresy, and in his divine suicide he destroyed a cathedral in both a final act of atonement and to spite the Church, which had become nothing more but power-hungry capitalists who cling to the destructive teachings of the Pale Kings. His shade still wanders Virbanwa’s countryside.

prereq: sinful blade spend 1 beat to summon the scarlet blade: ranged earth faith attack vs 1 target in range 3, then pull 1 (+1 per 6+ on the attack teeth). +1 beat increase the range and target to all chosen targets in burst 3. +1 beat inflict the bleed x3

Prereq: Scarlet Edge of Love

Sibat Caligo

Spend 1 Beat to strike with a spear of pure murder, the Sibat Caligo: Melee Earth Bravery Attack vs 2 targets in line 2. Every target hit suffers the Sibat Caligo until they remove it with a Beat. While they have the Sibat Caligo, if they end their Fulmination not closer to you, they suffer 1 True Hit.

Bloody Handed Redemption sings of horrible, horrible love. A love that forces you to give too much of yourself. This is the love of lowly mortals that toil evermore. Evisceration is nothing to the gods, but everything to us. Death is spoken of in soft tunes, like a lover.

+1 Beat to increase the range to all targets in line 4.

Prereq: Sibat Caligo

Solemnidad

Spend 1 Beat to take on the Solemnidad Stance until the end of your next Fulmination. While in this Stance, you have Stability. When you are attacked, inflict 1 Hit back at the attacker.

Mahadiwa Kalakatri Duumanun has never been one for atonement. Only when framed by the Ashen Star religion does she understand. In Virbanwa, Mahadiwa Kalakatri Duumanun is known as Saint Qali, Patron of Vengeance. She doesn’t like it herself. Who are they to name her differently? She cares not, of course. She knows her name, what mortals call her does not change her nature. Thus is the truth of nature.

+1 Beat to inflict BRV-1 on all enemies in burst 2 when taking on the stance. +1 Beat to gain Float while in the Stance.

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KADUNGGANAN Blackened God Body Saint Qali is based on an ancient Issohappan wariorress who offered her life in exchange for her queen’s freedom. She was the last bulwark against the encroaching invasion of Issohappa. She became beatified for dying for her queen to appease the warriors of her kingdom, and due to her bloodthirst against the Pale Kings, became the Patron Saint of Murderers and Penitents. When the Pale Kings went through the northern central region of Rusunuga they did the same with the faithfuls of Kalakatri, who wielded giant kalises that could bleed even rocks. Kalakatri’s imagery was subsumed with Saint Qali, including her night skin, her triad eyes, and her four arms wielding blades.

prereq: solemnidad spend 2 beat to sheathe yourself in the black god armor: until the start of your next fulmination, you ignore all difficult terrain and all non-attack hits, even true hits. however, all fighters in burst 2 of you become provoked by you.

Enlightenment: Dalagang Bakal: Self-Love

You can suffer 1 extra Hit when suffering attacks to gain +1d on your next attack. If this attack inflicts 2+ Hits, you heal 1.

Makayao’s death promises the end of all things, and so you bring it with you. As your bladed armor bites into your skin you remember your penitence. How do you have s[ace for Want? The Dalagang Bakal bleeds. Murderglave armors are living iron maidens: they have spikes that dig deeper into the host, so that one never forgets their lifelong penitence, their pain, their sin for inflicting such violence upon this world. This technique was crafted by the First Murderglave, Saint Lorenzo, who died performing it. His armor still exists somewhere in the Sword Isles, with his corpse kept within, as the Church considered it heresy to keep it in their vaults, and has since thrown it away.

at strike 3+, spend 1 beat to summon the shadow of your self-love, for who else can love yourself but yourself? place a shadow version of you in any square in range 5. the shadow is you, and fulminates like you do, has your traits, martial abilties, and techniques. any thing done to the shadow is considered as done to you instead.

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KADUNGGANAN Disciples of the Conquering King, Peerless Tacticians, Practitioner of the Martial Art of Commandment and Strategy, Ministers of the Battlefield Be who you must be, Warlord. Senapati are born from blood spilled and shed on the battlefield, that wretched hive of violence. With formidable tactics and peerless knowledge of the field, they guide their allies to victory. Senapati is the common term for commander-at-arms of a Datu, someone who is the Datu’s right hand man, who handles the statistics of armies and war bands and makes sure morale is high. They know the skills of their allies, and they make sure that their warband is optimized, ensuring victory in raids. They hire singers that will sing epics and songs to their armies, securing triumph and the favor of both the umalagad and the epics. In the battlefield, they master supreme tactics and inspiring speeches to ensure victory. The first Senapati is said to be the great first Conquering King, Rajaraya Pintas, who blew open the sky-gates and spoke with the Sky God Si Gurang Tungko, the elder Sky God, son of the Ancient Formless Sky (who is crowned in majesty but is overwhelmingly humbled as he seeks his wife who has left him). Rajaraya Pintas was an ancient demigiant who accomplished the feat of Heaven-Conquest due to his peerless leading skill. His headwrap, the Batara Pudong, burns with the ancient knowledges of compassion and benevolence, as despite being a Conquering King, he was only able to conquer the sky with the strength of his allies. To become a Senapati, one does not exactly need to be the right hand of the Datu. Senapati are trained and honed in the battlefield: anyone who gains an intuitive ability to inspire their allies, pull off impressive tactical displays, and learn the strengths and weaknesses of their comrades are viable to become Senapati. Of course, there are various masters of the 180 Strikes of the Conquering King can and will help: entire settlements have been built around the mastery of that grand martial art, wherein each Strike is less an attack and more of a tactical move. Senapati are common across the isles now, even though they as a formal tradition arose during the Lakan Conspiracy, when they needed to rally warriors and to marshal tactics required to bring down the Pale King Hegemony. Senapati have always existed even before then: the title is an ancient one, belonging to the oldest of oldest of kingdoms, written and passed down in unweatherable copperplate. Senapati are warlords of warbands, but Panglima are commanders of warrior armies. Laksamana, a name shared by an ancient monkey god-king that killed Maharajah Lawana in Banjarmasir, is the term for admiral of a sea warband. With the rise of sky barges, the term Galura, a term for the spawn of the great Eagle God Garuda, has become used as a term for sky admirals. However, with the arrival of the Issohappans, the many Senapati stole a great number of techniques from the Issohappans and incorporated them into the 180 Strikes. From the Issohappans they took the idea of military academies, creating burgeoning warriors and warlords that can change the world.

Discipline Traits HP: 9 - Style: Medium Weapons: Bodyong, chopping swords, straight swords, bolo, gunong, barong, sundang Armors: Baroti (cotton), baroti (bamboo), elephant hide pakil, cuirass, paruka, bahag, tampi, sarong, headwrap

Conquering King’s Teachings

The Conquering King Art was said to have been codified by Rajaraya Pintas, the First Lord, after he returned to the earth and traveled it even as the Cycles of Violence flowed. He gave it to those that would have the Bloody Want strong enough to conquer heaven once again, and find a means to end the Cycle of Violence. Each Strike is at the same time a proclamation, a Technique, and a commandment. Yet Rajaraya Pintas learned one thing as he conquered heaven: that he could not do it alone.

At the beginning of Violence, gain 2 Commands. Spend 1 Beat to gain 1 Command. You can only have up to 5 Command at a time. At any point, you can immediately spend any number of Command to do the following, with X being the number of Command spent: 0 General's Crown: Heal one ally in range 2 equal to X+1. 0 Bravura's Sword: Give 1 ally in range 3 +X to their BRV on their next attack. 0 Maverick's Shield: Give 1 ally in range 3 +X to their POS against the next attack. 0 Charging Lancer: Let 1 ally in range 3 Rush X.

Sound The Gongs of War!

Your mastery of the battlefield is apparent and well known. However, the most important thing is actually your mastery of your allies. With the proper maneuvers and training, you command the battlefield through the strength of your bonds.

Spend 1 Beat to make an ally in range 3 inflict violence.

Inflict Violences Blow The Horns [1]: Make some noise as violence begins! Melee Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target, then 1 ally that you can see may rush 1. Burning Hearts Assault [1]: Strike and lead your allies to victory! Ranged Fire Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 3. The next attack against that target gains +1d. Rajaraya Palm [1]: Strike with a palm. Push 1 a fighter in range 3. If they collide with an ally, the ally doesn’t suffer Hits.

If you become a Senapati, ask yourself why you lead your allies into inevitable violence. Your skills are fine tuned for the bloodshed caused in combat. Do you revel in the melee? Do you see yourself as a god of the battlefield? Why? Why have you chosen to be a creature of battle, a master of war yet beholden by it?

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Senapati Techniques spend 1 beat to give brv+2 to yourself or a single ally in range 3.

Blade Chief Command Rajraya Pintas’ greatest student, Ilakat Salandra, was said to have perfected what the Rajaraya could not in the beginning: she perfected the form of being one with your warband, coordination and cooperation with one another. They moved as one, and she became the warband’s burning spirit, one with Nihawa.

Lightning Lord Style After Rajaraya Pintas learned what he never could grasp from his student, he began asking Ilakat Salandra to teach what she had learned to the rest of the world, and so she did. She taught cooperation, diplomacy, a continued and cooperative violence that can be the only road to true peace. Not peace in word only, not peace for one or for some, but rather, a peace for all. “To achieve true peace, one must give up one’s self in some aspects. There is enough for us in this world.”

spend 2 beats to give brv+2 to yourself and all allies in burst 2. spend 3 beats to give brv+2 to yourself and all allies in the battlefield.

prereq: blade chief command spend 1 beat to make 1 ally in range 3 rush 2. spend 2 beats to make yourself and 1 ally in range 3 rush 4. you and the ally can move through enemies. if you and the chosen ally moves through the same enemy, inflict 1 true hit and unbalance on that enemy.

prereq: lightning lord style

Laksaman Whetstone Like Laksaman, the Monkey Warlord General, you lead others to victory, even against those unkillable. Bring to bear the great commander of our times, Laksaman, who led monkey kings to create bridges, and sailed the thunders to reach heaven.

spend 1 beat to take on the laksaman stance until the end of your next fulmination. whenever you suffer an attack while in this stance, any 1 or 2 allies that you can see may rush 2. you may consume the stance when you are attacked to push 3 the target, and then rush into any square they vacated. +1 beat to give all allies adjacent to you sharpness when you first take on this stance.

Prereq: Laksaman Whetstone

Panglima Palms Strike fast and strike through. Only if you can break your foes can your allies see victory. This is the Conquering King’s primary attack: 7 Panglima Palms that create a burning sigil upon the enemy forces, crafted and passed down by others that would learn his ancient art.

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Spend 1 Beat to perform the Panglima Palms: push 3 an adjacent target and the next attack against the target gains Overwhelming. +1 Beat to give it the following effect: if the target collides with an ally, they suffer Stun.

KADUNGGANAN

Thunderbolt Spear Pamaagi “The cosmos, the sky, the heavens and the earths and the hells: they will pass, fade away, like sand washed away by the waves of time. And our kind, all we do is fight. We engage in such violence that the gods look away, and the devils bow down in the grandeur of our bloodshed. Like a river, it flows. It ever cycles: our violence flows to the sea of time, and then simply returns to the peak of the mountain through the rain. Will there ever be a time that our warring nations will achieve peace? Or is peace simply not a portion of our nature? Who is to dictate our nature? I bring this spear and shield before you, great Brother Thunderbolt, so that I may slay you, and perhaps I will free my people from this horrible cycle. The river flows, Diwasin Kilat, God of Lightning, but perhaps I can stop it.” - The Song of the Rajaraya

Prereq: Panglima Palms Spend 2 Beats to inflict violence, and then all allies that you can see can inflict violence as well. Spend 3 Beats to rush 1 and then inflict violence, and then all allies that you can see can do the same.

Enlightenment: King “For many datu in the isles, some sort of divinity is a useful claim to royalty. This is because a ruler’s powerbase in the isles depend on how much virtue or merit the commonfolk see that you have. If they realize that another, different warrior-brave or king has a more powerful claim to royalty, whether it be divine heritage, bloodline, or superior ultraviolence, then they will switch allegiance on a dime, following the more powerful one. Why would you follow a nonvirtuous person? If you followed a virtuous leader, then you will cultivate virtue yourself.” - Sermons on Virtue and Rulership by Sri Kadasiga Mahawagas

Your adjacency is increased to all squares within range 2 of you, instead of just everything within 1 sq of you. at strike 2+, for 1 beat, you can give the greatest command: all allies in the battlefield gain 5 thunderbolt tokens [p. 35].

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KADUNGGANAN Artists whose souls have been cut in twain. Swordsmen that will complete the cutting motion of existence. Sword Saints are the faithful patrons, preachers, and priests who worship the violent aspect of Makagagahum, Makaubos, and pray to Gattalim, the intercessor of swords, to bring their woes to God. Makaubos is the aspect of God who will arrive at the end of all things. He will cleanse it in a single blood tornado of steel and gnashing of teeth. Sword Saints are given the Blade Commission: they must travel from settlement to settlement to teach the word and truth of the Ashen Star, the upcoming Edge Eschatology, or as they call it: the Paguubos, the emptying of the land. They are taught extensively the teachings of the Sword, and their primary conviction is this: “All things will be cut in the end by Makaubos. We are the end.” Those that follow the aspect of Makaubos are also taught extensively the ways and arts of their God’s violent and jealous aspect, which they say is the human state of their God, as all things have the binary states of man and nature. Through communion and following the 77 Sword Tenets of Gattalim, they sharpen their souls until they turn their very spirits into blades. Sharper than any other soul, they will never find love, for those that try to embrace a Sword Soul will be bisected. Sword Saints are seen as strangers and outsiders by the settlements. Those of Apumbukid see them as bastards, mindless, idiots. That they have turned themselves into “Swords” is stupid, for they have honed themselves to be Swords that Kill, not Swords that Cut. In essence, they are useless, and forever will be. The truth of all things is much more complicated, of course. The Sword Saint was once a different Discipline, now rent in half, like the bisection that it truly is. Sword Saints that practice the opposite philosophy exist in Ba-e, born from the Blade Gospel’s original form. The Blade Gospel was once simply the Blade Song. It has since been changed, now, once the Ashen Star Priests took hold of it. Many of the original followers of the Blade Song created the Blade Weaving after splitting from them, while those that chose to become warriors for the new Ashen Star religion created the Blade Gospel. However, very recently, a larger portion of these martial artists have broken apart from the Ashen Star and have begun following a rural folk syncretism of Ashen Star teachings and the ancient religions of northern Rusunuga. These martial artists, in a Fulmination of hard-headed defiance, keep both the name Sword Saint and Blade Gospel and teach in pagodas in Ba-e as well as the communal feasts of Gatusan. They are revivalists of the original Blade Song, which sing the true Blade Gospel: “the might of the sword-used-to-kill must be used with justice and compassion, lest it be nothing but the very thing that causes the Wheel of Violence to turn.” These revivalists are commonly known as Graceless, while those faithful to the Ashen Star Blade Commission are those Graced.

Discipline Traits HP: 7 - Style: Sharpshooter Weapons: Sundang, bolo, pinute, garol, ginunting, katana, kampilan, kalis, barong, pira Armors: War jacket, war pants, sarongs, war boots, war hat, loose robes, swordpriest vestments

Sword Avatars

“The Principle of the Sword is this: if your soul is not sharp enough to cut your own flesh, then you have not learned the true principle of the sword. The Principle of Gattalim is this: if your flesh is cut by your own soul, then you have achieved the Sword Nirvana: that you are now worthless and harm all those around you. Have you ever noticed why you cannot cut down trees with your techniques?” – The 77 Tenets of Gattalim

At the start of violence, take on a single Sword Form. You can change Sword Forms by spending 1 Beat, 1/ Fulmination. 0 Gospel Swordstance of Amaley/Bladesong Form of Apolaki: All your area attacks have +1d. 0 Gospel of Amacor/Bladevesper of Mayari: You may teleport 1 after making an area attack. 0 Gospel of Azaragoe/Bladehymn of Tala: When you are the target of a melee attack from an adjacent target, you may inflict violence before the attack, 1/Fulmination.

Principle of Cutting

“The Principle of Diwahati, the diwata who lives in all Bisections, is this: we are cause-effect, love-evisceration. We are both bisected and the whole. Therefore the Sword’s final Mastery is this: who are we but all in that eternal process of the cut? The cut ends when we die, this is the final Mastery of our truths. We are in a perpetual cutting motion: that is life. Changing and hurting and dying. Therefore apply this cutting motion to everything else: to bamboo, to politics, to datu, to love. For what else are we but bisections?”

Enemies can move through you (but not you through them). If they do, they suffer 1 True Hit. This triggers once per enemy per Fulmination. Enemies therefore cannot collide with you. If they end movement in your square, rush 1.

Inflict Violences Damnation Cut [1]: Cut the air, send a slash across the field. Area Fire Faith Attack vs all targets in path 4. Archangel Cutting [1]: Cut a distant target. Ranged Air Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 6. Castigation Cut [1]: Unsheathe your blade and send slashes everywhere. Area Metal Faith Attack vs all targets in range 2 burst 1.

If you choose to be a Sword Saint, your soul has been sharpened into a killing sword. Your soul kills you. Once you achieve peace, you become worthless. Will you survive enlightenment?

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Sword Saint Techniques Spend 1 Beat: Gain 2 Summoned Swords. While you have Summoned Swords, all ranged attacks against you have Dullness.

Blade of Makaubos | Lawana Shrikes

Spend 1 Beat: Launch any number of Swords against any target in range 3, inflicting Bleed and Eviscerate per sword.

All at once a prayer and a spell. With an intercession to Gattalim, Pintakasi (Patron Saint Intercessor) of Blades, Makaubos allows his blades to circle around the target of your scorn, ready to bring them down.

Spend 3 Beats: Send the Swords in a hurricane about you: Spend X Summoned Swords to Inflict X Hits to all fighters in burst 2.

Prereq: Blade of Makaubos | Lawana Shrikes

Sword Judas | Blade of SelfAcceptance Preach the Blade Gospel: be as a sword, indiscriminate and betraying. To become a sword you must first betray yourself. The perfection of this technique is a recalling of its past version in the Bladesong: becoming the Sword is to realize one’s self, the perfection of mindfulness within one’s place in nature.

Spend 1 Beat to gain the Sword Judas Boon. While you have this Boon, suffer Stop. When you are the target of an Attack, consume the Boon to immediately cancel that attack against you, and then inflict Unbalance x2 at the attacker. Spend +1 Beat to also inflict Eviscerate x2 alongside the Unbalance. Spend +1 Beat to teleport 1 after spending the token.

Passionflower Dance | Violent Bodhisattva Line The Sword is in a perpetual killing motion, is it not? This is the teaching of the Sword Saints. Of course, as with all things, this is a Corruption. In the Blade Song, from which it was bisected into the two kinds of Sword Saints, the teaching was of the perpetual cutting motion, in the sense that one must always be moving forward, changing things, not just others, but one’s self. The Passionflower Dance is one of the only technicks created by a master from Ba-e, whose name was Passiflora in Virbanwa. He was executed for heresy, but his legacy lives on.

Prereq: Sword Judas | Blade of Self-Acceptance Spend 1 Beat to unleash a gathered strike: rush 4 in a straight line, through all fighters and objects, inflicting 1 Hit through every target moved through. +1 Beat: Rush 6 instead, not in a straight line. +1 Beat: Teleport 1 every target you move through.

Prereq: Passionflower Dance | Violent Bodhisattva Line

Sidereal Rosary | BATALA’s Star "Aba, aba, gunitain ka makapangyarihang Makayao! You died for us, we are not worthy of you. Let your corpse bled dry cover us, let the shadow of your torture wrap around us and bring us bliss upon this land of sorrows! Let your broken ribs be my sword, your shattered halo my shield!" You strike in the form of an Asterfix where great Makayao, the Son of God, was bled and dried until his corpse became desiccated and mummified.

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1 Beat: Give 1 fighter in range 5 Mark x2. While marked you have them tethered to you by a rosary. At any moment, you can sever the rosary to instantly teleport the fighter to an adjacent square. +1 Beat: After marking the fighter, choose an adjacent square. They are tethered to that square instead: they are pulled 3 toward the square and suffer SPD-2 while tethered. +1 Beat: To also drive an asterfix through the target’s heart. When the Rosary is severed, they suffer 1 True Hit.

KADUNGGANAN

Thunderhead Keens | Diwahati Eviscerates Makaubos You let the tension rise, and the perfect slashing moment approaches, fulminates, echoes. All sound is dulled away, and the only thing you can hear is the screaming keening thunderhead as it reaches an unstoppable crescendo and you cut. This is the Technique taught by the peerless master of sword-murder Alberto Sakaran Penitente, who was bisected in the process.

Prereq: Sidereal Rosary | BATALA’s Star Spend 1 Beat to go into Sheathed Stance until you suffer a Hit. While in Sheathed stance, you cannot make any attacks, but you have POS+2. Spend 1 Beat while in Sheathed Stance to teleport your SPD. When you teleport, inflict 1 True Hit against all adjacent enemies. Spend 2 Beats while in Sheathed Stance to end Sheathed Stance, inflict 2 True Hits to every fighter in blast 4, and then end your Fulmination.

Enlightenment: Sword Nirvana There is a secret importance to the Sword dichotomy of the intense study of the blade (to the detriment of everything else). The Bladesong once sang of the Great Unity which contained Dichotomy: unity is thus balance, and balance is achieved with two things against each other. Cause-Effect is a single thing that is not separate from each other: therefore they are not two different things but rather two parts of the same whole. This is exemplified in the beginning of time, where all of existence was nothing but Sky and Sea, both devoid of color or light, an endless undulation, a chaotic dialogue of winds and waves. The Sky and Sea was not separate but part of the same whole, that is the Chaos, the First Cause- Effect. Thus is the importance of learning the Cutting Art of the Sword: the Sword exemplifies that anything that is 2 was once 1, simply cut in twain.

When you make an attack against a target, give them a Cut. When a target reaches 3 Cuts, they discard all cuts and suffer 1 True Hit spend 3 beats to revel in the blade: halve the hp of all fighters in the field that have cuts, minimum 1. afterwards, you achieve sword nirvana: any fighter that moves into a square adjacent to you suffers 1 true hit.

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KADUNGGANAN Channelers and Priests of the Sampaguita: the Jasmine of Death and the Ancestors, Speakers of the Departed, Ministers of Blessed Flower Corpses Flower Balyan channel the little and large gods of death. Flower Balyan are a specialized martial clan of balyan that have focused on speaking with the recently killed. More and more necromancers have been born during the beginning of the Seventh Star Era due to the rapid rise in violence, and subsequently, death. The wandering kalag of those recently departed all cry the same thing: Where is the justice? When will it end? Flower Balyan are usually, but not strictly, those alabay when they were younger, or shaman apprentices. Through this they learn the foremost important necromancy ritual: the ritual of pag-uli. Through this, they may be able to resurrect a person if their kalag is close enough. If not, then they would perform the rituals to send off the kalag to their final resting place. Flower Balyan are a step forward. They took this advantage during the rise of killing through violence, which has caused many kalag to not be sent properly to the afterlife. Flower Balyan use the iconic sampaguita flower--the flower one would smell if a beloved one’s ghost who has passed away is near you--to promise a better end: they will grant them peace, but only if they do one final request for them. Once the kalag or soul has agreed, they will be bound to a sampaguita. Once that kalag has been used, the sampaguita must be planted to the ground, wherein it withers and then dies, finishing the elaborate pag-uli ritual. Flower Balyan use the kalag bound to their sampaguita to perform things usually thought of as blasphemous: they animate bones and flesh (not of tawo, however), they grant life to their allies, and they sap away at enemies’ vitality. Balyan see them in a negative light. Thus, Flower Balyan are much rarer than the usual balyan. In a very real sense, Flower Balyan are simply warrior-priestesses who have absorbed the teachings of death and used it to gain an edge. This kind of thinking is something Ba-e obviously loves, and they patronized and hired Flower Balyan alongside balyan in their polities. Only the most traditionalist of balyan sneer at them. Unfortuantely, that is still the majority. Dealing in matters of death is anathema to them, is too close to the sorceries of the aswang. Despite this, Flower Balyan follow the tenets of Dalankalag to the bitter end, the spiritual Path of the Soul. If you become a sampaguita necromancer, you bring with you at all times your cord of sampaguita. Why do you carry it? Is it atonement? You lay to rest those that are dead, but can you ever give your own soul respite?

Discipline Traits HP:6 - Style: Witch Weapons: Mudras, ritual knives, gunong, kris, prayer strips, sampaguita wreaths, flower thorns, laurels Armors: Ritual vestments, raiments, shawls, robes, sashes, malong, tapis, sarong

Flower Garden

Flower Balyan very often cultivate gardens of their own, either in their own houses or perhaps in their own settlements. These gardens are pieces of wonder, though their most striking part will always be a corpse flower in the middle of it all. Flower Balyan are fond of sampaguita, or jasmines, as they are the flowers of the dead. They cultivate the gardens because it is very often taught that to take a life, you must bring something else to life. You have captured wandering souls that wish to offer their ghostly consciousnesses for a virtuous cause. They are always 5. You know each of their names. You fight with them, and they manifest as beings clad in flower and soil.

When you start violence, place a Flower Ghost in a square adjacent to you. You can put down another Flower Ghost for 1 Beat. You only have 1 of each Ghost type per Violence. You cannot have more than 3 at a time. Each Flower Ghost is a minion and is a Size 1/2 Summon. You can make a Ghost rush 3 for 1 Beat. Sampaguita Ghost: The square of the Sampaguita Ghost is difficult terrain. Lotus Soul: Leaving adjacency of the lotus soul costs +1 Speed. Hibiscus Goblin: Every start of Fulmination, the Goblin rushes 2 and inflicts Unbalance on an adjacent enemy. Jade Vine Serpent: Every end of Fulmination, the serpent leaps and inflicts SPD-1 on an enemy in range 2. Waling-Waling Brute: The brute is considered blocking terrain.

Plant Blossoms

Flower Necromancers carry with them flowers inlaid with sorcerous script. When fired, they burn and execute a variety of magical effects. These sorcerous scripts are also very often found written in palm leaf strips, which Flower Necromancers very often rip or tear to perform a variety of effects.

When you inflict any number of Hits on a fighter, you may plant a flower within them. Any single fighter can have up to 3 flowers on them. When a fighter with a flower attacks, make any number of flowers on them blossom, canceling a Hit per blossom. Flowers wither after a blossom.

Inflict Violences Rose Thorn [1]: Let fly a petal that buries into an enemy. Inflict Fray on a target in range 5. Jade Vine Whip [1]: Throw a jade vine and whip an enemy about. Slide 3 a target in range 4. Floral Blade [1]: Cut with a weapon made of petals. Area Earth Faith Attack vs all chosen targets in path 5, inflicting Eviscerate x2.

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Flower Balyan Techniques Biting Thorn Attack Kinahalas-un is an ancient balyan who learned the secrets of ancient necromancy and decay. She crafted a thorn, which has since become a primary offensive technique of all Flower Necromancers, who practice it and then learn to apply it as covetously and as hidden as possible, woven between sung incantations and empty hand forms.

Brambles As Dragons Technique Corpse Flower Necromancy has part of a shaman initiation rite baked into their training. They are taught to practice and learn the ways of the spirits, to communicate with them, and to give extra reverence–even more so than usual priests and shamans do–due to their own trespasses brought about by learning their Martial Art. Flower Necromancers therefore are intimately connected to the societies of spirits.

Spend 1 Beat to launch a thorn: Ranged Earth Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 4, inflict Bleed. +1 Beat: Inflict d3 stacks of Bleed. +1 Beat: Make this an area attack that targets all chosen targets in burst 2

Prereq: Biting Thorn Attack Spend 1 Beat to touch a warrior and let brambles bind them: inflict Stop on a fighter in range 3. Spend +1 Beat to increase the target and range to all chosen fighters burst 1 within 3 squares. +1 Beat to inflict Stop x3.

Prereq: Brambles As Dragons Technique Spend 1 Beat to summon a giant gumamela to swallow you into the earth and belch somewhere else, teleport 2. +1 Beat to let the gumamela swallow all allies adjacent to you as well, letting them teleport 2 as well, but they must stay adjacent to you. +1 Beat to Push 1 all enemies adjacent to you before or after the attack.

Gumamela Diwa Method A gumamela is a hibiscus native to the isles. It is so named after Gumeng and Mela, a mortal man and his diwata lover. The diwata lover killed him in a moment of grief, realizing that Mela cannot live with Gumeng forever. Then she killed herself, for she cannot suffer such blasphemy. The first gumamela flowers blossomed from their corpses. Once known simply as “Bulaklak ni Gumeng at Mela”, which means “Flowers of Gumeng and Mela”, it is now known as Gumamela.

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Vampire Orchid Promulgation The Mandurugo is the vampire orchid, which drains blood from one’s veins and applies it as spiritual healing upon others. It is exceedingly rare, and is popular for healing datu by sacrificing slaves.

Burning Santan Sorcery Gather motes of crimson santan, crush them, and pray to let the vengeful dead burn the thickets. A mentala that summons a thicket of thick and hard to move through foliage. It is wrapped in phantom flame.

Enlightenment: The Symbol of Death Hinagpis ng mga bulaklak. You touch the ground and it becomes drenched in the spirit of the dead. Your heart is rent; sampaguitas blossom from your fingers, from your brow. You become inert, a living bloom, as the ghosts of the vengeful rise above the earth in reckoning. Petals blossom from your feet, and wrap you around. You are a flower yourself, now. Just a bit more and you will become a goddess, so close–so close–to death. The spirits remind you that the flowers are there to signify when a dear dead loved one is near. Become that signifier. The blossom erupts about you, butterflites scatter in every direction. Become death. The symbol for death in the sword isles is the Flower.

Prereq: Gumamela Diwa Method Spend 1 Beat to inflict an Orchid upon a fighter in range 2. You can stack up to 3 Orchids at a time, and Orchids stay indefinitely When a fighter with Orchids is attacked, consume any number of Orchids on the fighter to heal 1 the attacker per Orchid consumed. +1 Beat to increase the range to range 6. +1 Beat to place the orchid in an unoccupied square in range. When a fighter moves into the square, you can cause the Orchid to latch on to them.

Prereq: Vampire Orchid Promulgation Spend 2 Beats to burn a place: choose a square in range 4. All squares in burst 1 of that square become Burning Terrain. Any enemies in the burst suffer 1 Hit.

All squares adjacent to you are difficult terrain for enemies, as flowers grow around your footfalls. spend 2 beats at strike 4+ to root yourself and become blossom open. blossoms fill the sky. you can no longer move nor be moved. however, your range is the entire battlefield for every effect, you heal 1 all allies every start of their fulmination, and inflict 1 true hit to all enemies every end of their fulmination.

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KADUNGGANAN Renders of Heaven, Denouncers of Kings, Cloud Surfers, Ever Alight Javelins, Attainment of Minor Enlightenment No gods, no rulers. This is the first Technique of the Piercers of Heaven. Their teachings then go on to teach of the great unbreaking, that unlashing from the earth, that great windcalling. With a flex of your kalag, a honing of your Kinaadman, an expression of Gahum, you can fly upon silk wings to sail the clouds. The first Heavenspear was Sarripada Pak-an. To fend off an incoming Akai raid, they rode upon catapults, and when the war barges sounded, they launched themselves into the air, sailing across the sky, and rending sails from masts and inflicting chaos upon the raiders. The Sarripada would continue to do this until one day, he launched himself so high that he spoke with Lawu, the great eagle that will eat the sun. The eagle took him into his clutches and showed him the seven heavens, at the top of which there was no throne but simply infinite bliss. When asked why there was no great god that ruled over them all, the Eagle responded: “Rulership is a mistake and a lie built by your ancestors and descendants. Rejoice in the glory of combat.” Sarripada Pak-an descended back into the earth upon a silken kite that he had fashioned himself with the help of biraddali--rainbow-winged angels--from one of the seven heavens. With this, he fought like a hawk, swooping and killing and destroying boats. After fending off that particular raid, he returned to the cliff where his catapult was, and he broke it. With an intonation of his Kinaadman, he detached himself free from the earth. And upon this blasphemy against the natural order he founded a house of skywarriors, and called them the Heavenspears. The Heaven Rending Style is then the truth of your Kinaadman: unbind yourself from the tyrant-gods of the earth, who lash you down to the ground. “No thrones, rend heaven and hell.” As a Heavenspear, you are taught the HeavenRending Arts. These are a set of techniques that let you reflexively move about the air as if there were innumerable platforms about you, using your spirit to bounce off of thin air. This, combined with a martial art focused on using polearms, makes the Heavenspear adept at staying at range but also quick. Their unorthodox angles of attack has been the downfall of many warbands.

Discipline Traits HP 8 - Style: Raider Weapons: Sibat, bangkaw, tridents, barbed spears, kalises, gunongs, longknives, lances, pinamaskan, lances, halberds, glaves, sodok Armors: Breastplates, sarongs, pants, slippers, bracers, headwraps

Liberation

The final lie is the Earth-Binding. That one must stay bound to the earth. That one must fall down. BATALA, the Absolute Reality, tells that this reality is nothing but phenomenon that we can overcome. However, to achieve that, they must learn the truth of the Waling-Waling Surat: that they themselves are not real. That they travel and can perform feats of grand God-killing because reality as they know it is a structure of their own souls crafting reality around them. Only then can they truly unchain themselves from the shackles of the earth.

When you Rush, gain 1 Momentum Dice. When you make a Bravery Attack, you can add the Momentum Dice as Attack Teeth. When you Rush, you Fly for the duration of the Rush.

Skydancer

The 41st Tenet of Heaven Rending: Stillness is illusion, as with all things. To Achieve Conjunction you must learn to be unbound.

1/Fulmination: When a fighter moves into a square that is within burst 2 of you from outside burst 2 of you, you may Rush 1.

Unbridled Alacrity

The 37th Tenet of Heaven Rending: Dig deep until the wind billows and the thunderhead keens. You will know your time to strike.

When you end your Fulmination and have moved at least 5 squares, gain 1 Defend until the start of your next Fulmination.

Inflict Violences Extremespeed [1]: Move quicker than sound. Rush 3. Thunderspear [1]: Strike so quick that it is like lightning, and your victim feels the thunder. Melee Air Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 2. Push 1, and then Rush 1 toward the target. Lightning Lance [1]: Twirl your weapon and then strike forward, piercing through. Area Metal Bravery Attack vs 2 targets in line 2.

If you become a Heavenspear, ask yourself: with your enlightened knowledge of there being no Over God, why do you fight? Do you fight for liberation, so that all men can fly across the sky? Or do you fight for more selfish reasons? You rend the sky but make sure that your spear thrust is true, from your heart, and not from your doubts.

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Heavenspear Techniques Spend 1 Beat to take on the Hornbill Stance.

Hornbill Step A technique mastered by winged eaglefolk Nawilani, who perfected it when they resolved to ignore their weakness as someone that cannot fly. The Heavenspear is not impeded by the battlefield. All obstacles are simply things that must be vaulted over. Heavenspear Hinalus sped through an entire forest to strike at a warrior resting within the mouth of a river.

Ghokong Vaults Heaven You use your weapon to vault over your enemy, confusing them, befuddling them, overwhelming them with your superior movement. Ghokong is an ancient monkey warrior, one of the best to have lived, who helped the ancient ascetic shaman-monk Tulopitaka to the far Southeast to collect ancient manuscripts lost to time in ancient Stillshrines. He is one of the greatest Kadungganan to ever live, and is himself a namulak, having found Glory.

When you move or are moved, consume the stance to immediately rush 3 at any point in the movement. This is not triggered by Rushes. Spend +1 Beat to ignore Elevation differences of 1 for any kind of movement while in the Stance. Spend +1 Beat to gain +1d on your next Air Attack when you consume the stance.

Prereq: Hornbill Step Spend 1 Beat to vault with your weapon: choose 1 adjacent fighter and then move into any other adjacent square to them. +1 Beat to make your next attack against them Skewering.

Prereq: Ghokong Vaults Heaven

Pinamaskan Pamaagi

Spend 1 Beat to leap into the air and then fall down: choose a target in range 3. Teleport 2 to a square adjacent to them, and then inflict 1 Hit to the chosen target.

You leap up like lightning, and then crash down like the vajra. In Gatusan, the Pinamaskan is an heirloom spear that is important to the wielder, named and decorated with gold flame inlays, and are usually longer and have longer blades than the usual spears.

+1 beat to increase the range to range 5. +1 beat to make the following attack instead of inflicting 1 hit: melee air bravery attack.

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KADUNGGANAN Plummeting Thunder

Prereq: Pinamaskan Pamaagi

Thundering will overcome you: you will never be overcome. Jamiyun Kulisa is the Brother Thunderbolt, husband to Indira Suga, the Mother Sun. In the ancient of days, the Sky Brother stepped upon the seven heavens and reached the highest point of the sky. There he saw the stars in the void, and realized that nothingness is part of the supreme soul. With this enlightenment, he descended into the earth, and thus thunder resounded for the first time.

+1 Beat to inflict Stun on the target after making the attack.

Rising Lightning You crouch down low, and then like lightning wishing to return to the heavens, you bolt up, sudden, unimpeded. Taught by Abusung Samudela, a once master of low moving Skysea Raiding, he perfected this after mixing the styles together, and created one of the most dangerous attacks in Heaven Rending.

Enlightenment: SunyataPiercing Transcension That ultimate Mastery of Lawu, The Sun Eating Eagle: impale the sun and make the sky bloody with rebellion. With this, you become gathering storm clouds, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. Then, like that lightning dog, you descend upon the world. “There is no god, in fact there is no self, there is only thought,” you state, as your weapon pierces the heart of creation.

Spend 1 Beat to become like thunder: push 5 a fighter. If they collide, teleport to a square adjacent to the target and then make a Melee Air Bravery Attack against that target, as they bounce from the collision. +1 Beat to push the target 3 after the attack.

Prereq: Plummeting Thunder Spend 1 Beat to rush forward and send a target flying. Rush 1, and then inflict do the following to an adjacent target: Inflict 1 True Hit, Push 2, and then Juggle. +1 Beat to rush 2 after the attack. +1 Beat to gain the effect: when the target ends Juggle, rush 3 towards them. If you end adjacent to them, inflict Sunder.

You have a Lightning Token at the beginning of Violence. You can discard it at any point to immediately teleport 2. at strike 4+, spend all 3 beats to leap into the sky, removing yourself from the battlefield. at the start of the next round, choose any square in the battlefield and slam down into it. inflict 3 true hits into every target in burst 1 of the square you slam down to. if the square you chose has a fighter or object on it, push 1 that target and then deal 999 true hits to them. any target you bring to 0 hp with this attack dissipates into nothingness.

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KADUNGGANAN Healers of Sword, the Traveling Doctors, Masters of the Convalescent Art Known as Tambalan [tam-BA-lan] in the isles, Menders are balyan who focus on their studies of Dalankalag, the path of the soul, Dalanlikas, the path of nature, and Dalandiwa, the path of essence. They pay less heed to Dalananito, the path of worship, and truly this has led them to come at heads with other balyan. Menders travel the isles as healers and doctors, and in recent times they have become even more in demand due to the rising tensions of war and violence. They specialize in healing physical and spiritual harm. Spiritual including any intellectual and emotional damage. Most balyan coteries in a settlement now usually include Menders among their ranks, always at the ready to heal. They have entire longhouses dedicated to their patients, healing those wounded and cleansing of disease. Menders in particular are trained to be desensitized to the atrocities of war and are meant to fight in the frontlines. There they are trained to bring herbal remedies and other such potions to quickly heal warriors and to bring them to top fighting form before anything else can happen. Not just that, but their knowledge of nature has them memorizing names of flora and fauna and their functions when mixed with each other, something that balyan don’t exactly need to do (but most of them do anyway). While in a venture, having a Mender is necessary to avoid eating poisonous herbs or omen flowers, as well as finding a way to purify water and make it potable. They do this with their clay pots and through burning of various herbs. They learn various drugs to enhance the capabilities of their allies. The first Mender was said to be none other than the panganitohan Sri Dewa Sarripada Agas. The Mender, embodying the best of both masculine and feminine energies, learned to combine the disparate parts of nature to create harmonifying tinctures. These healing remedies became known as tambal. Thus the tambalan arose: those that used or worked with tambal. They have knowledge of advanced healing techniques as well, although not as broad in their expertise as balyan. They know the basics of hilot, and usually know the correct oils to apply to the proper muscles. Sri Dewa Sarripada Agas, known to many Menders as The Blue Man, as they manifested before them when a Mender would first begin their journey. Each Mender is given a snake- twin--something usually only given as a guardian spirit to specific chosen children--crafted by Sri Dewa Sarripada Agas themself. Then they will explain that all tawo came from snake within bamboo, and that the snake’s ability to shed is indicative of inherent regenerative abilities within man. Thus, man was taught healing through natural means, instead of forced regeneration. Sri Dewa Sarripada Agas also taught the truth of the soul to the Mender: there are four souls: The Vigor, The Power, The Thought, and finally The Immortal. The Vigor is the life principle, known usually as Diwa. It is what makes us alive. The Power is that which can leave us during our sleep, or can be filled with puhon, and is the soul that activates whenever sorcery is used. Without The Power, we are like husks. Then there is the The Thought, which can leave us if we do not cultivate proper spiritual and mental life. Staying alone for long periods of time can cause this.

Finally, The Immortal is the soul that collects all of our thoughts and actions and personality. When we die, The Immortal travels to our chosen afterlife, and can be called upon as ancestors. Finally, Sri Dewa Sarripada Agas teaches that most ailments happen due to destruction and imbalances within the soul caused by an element. Most ailments begin spiritual, and only those powerful boil over into the physical, affecting us physically. The most grievous of ailments, such as cutting and slashes and crushing blows, for example, is a perfect example of the element of Space separating or pushing together the Vigor. Thus, Menders are taught to heal the soul first, so that the physical may heal properly afterwards.

Discipline Traits HP: 8 - Style: Medium Weapons: Jade beads, parasols, clothing, sashes, fans, hats, oils, perfumes Armors: Ritual vestments, healer tunics, cloaks, hoods, sashes, robes, gowns

Mixture Master

All magical effects are just a matter of the correct combination of herbs, knowledge of the soul, and twisting of your own ghost. As a master healer, use this to your advantage, and channel Sri Dewa Sarripada Agas.

Begin combat with 1 of each Concoction, which you can use on yourself or throw it at fighters in range 3. Using these do esnot use Beats. Healing Mixture: Heal 2. Protective Mixture: Gain 1 Defend. Cleansing Mixture: Cleanse all negative effects, Fire Mixture: Gain +1d on next attack. Water Mixture: Gain Stealthx2.

Healer Meditation

The Palm of Rumsua is the perfection of the healing mantle. They can heal even more than the balyan can. They are born as inherent rejection of the Eighth Star Era’s violence. You are taught to be the perfect places to hit, strike, massage, as well as the right oils to use, to soothe your allies.

When an ally falls to Staggered in the first time in the Violence, give them Block 2.

Inflict Violences Palm [1]: Strike with a mystic palm. Melee Fire Faith Attack vs 1 adjacent target, and then inflict SPD-1. Cloth Flurry [1]: Strike with sleeves and clothing to turn enemies about. Melee Metal Faith Attack vs 1 target in range 2. Slide 2. Fending Spell [1]: Let go of jade beads, parasols, a hat, or anything else that might protect. It flies out and protects an ally. Give 1 ally in range 3 a Fend Token. The ally can spend the Fend Token at any point to cancel 1 Hit.

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Mender Techniques Healing Spell

spend 1 beat to heal 1 an ally in range 3.

You utter healing mantras, which are usually spoken and sung during healing rituals. Healing Mantras heal The Vigor Soul first, before diving into the intricacies of an ailment. It is the Vigor that keeps us from death, that keeps The Immortal imprisoned within our bodies.

+1 beat to heal 1 up to two fighters in range 3.

Ultrasoul Palm

prereq: healing spell

Clasp your hands together to produce a healing oil made of crushed flowers, cinnamon bark, and deepsea coral snake blood. Utter a mantra, and a mandala erupts from the crushed ingredients. When you bring your hands apart, Rumsua’s Eye opens in the middle of your palm: the symbol fo health and spiritual strength. With Rumsua’s Eye in your palm, you strike down, and blast both the enemy’s physical and spiritual forms.

+2 beats to heal 2 all allies in the battlefield.

spend 1 beat to push 4 an adjacent ally. spend 2 beats to push an adjacent fighter’s soul from them instead, pushing their soul into a square that is 3 squares behind them in a straight line. anything that happens to the soul happens directly to the original fighter. the fighter must move into their soul to reunite with them.

prereq: ultrasoul palm

Blasting Oil With a quick slap of a hand, imbue an ally’s fists or weapons with an explosive oil. An oil concoction created by ancient healer Temiak Parelang born from secret mangrove fish eggs and explosive fire serpent scales found in the mouths of underwater volcanoes, used during the War of Rosy Golds to stop the assault of Tundun warriors wearing gilded armor borne from technology of Samrasat.

spend 1 beat to give an ally in range 3 a blasting unguent. when that ally ends their fulmination, they may rush 2 as the blasting unguent sends them into a direction. +1 beat to give it the following effect: after the rush, inflict 1 hit on every enemy adjacent to the ally.

Gahum Dampening Ointment

Prereq: Blasting Oil

This ointment forcibly causes The Power to be pushed out from the body for a setsuna instant, causing them to lose all autonomy and strength for a few crucial moments. You ready it upon a kris leaf upon your palm, and then strike your opponent with it.

+1 Beat to instead make that attack inflict 1 Hit only and nothing more.

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Spend 1 Beat to give the ointment on a fighter in range 3: their next attack suffers -1d.

KADUNGGANAN Numbing Lukay Lukay is palm leaf art, not dissimilar from origami from the far southern archipelago. Flower seeds, petals, and crushed insects steeped in hot water have been wrapped in a heart-shaped lukay. This, when applied forcibly, envelops The Immortal with a moment of Hiyang, making them one with all things for one moment.

Prereq: Gahum Dampening Ointment Spend 1 Beat to make an adjacent ally immune to all hits on the next attack against them. However their next attack suffers -2d. +1 Beat to increase the range to an ally in range 3. +1 Beat to remove the -2d penalty.

Enlightenment: Lunas Lunas is the panacea, made up of 20 different herb leaves, 15 animal blood parts, 13 moth, butterfly, and dragonfly wings, and 8 different healing waters from 8 different springs, placed within a clay jarlet engraved with the name of the healing diwata that helped the Mender that brewed this lunas. 0 - Discord is an excuse for harmony. In the beginning all things were harmonious. Assemble souls that have become sundered from each other. Rejoin with that supreme soul, that supernal consciousness, and find enlightenment. Only then shall you achieve Conjunction.

Whenever you Heal an ally, heal them +1 and you also heal 1. at strike 5+ you can spend 1 beat to bring all allies up to full hp, bringing any defeated ally back to play.

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KADUNGGANAN Masters of the Art of Sending Meteors, Perfection of Improvisation, Those that Perfect Play Through Violence War is a sport, and you are the Ace. The sport of sipa or sepak takraw is a competitive sport played between two teams, and is popular among children and teenagers. When not warring, sipa is what the youngerfolk of the Sword Isles spend their free time doing, other than drinking, dancing, or learning important lessons. One night, Bulalakaw the Comet, descended upon the people of The Sword Isles with a ball of stardust. With this, he began kicking, and he launched it at people. The people caught it with their feet, and soon the volley began. At the end of the play session, Bulalakaw the Comet said: “Such is life, like a great volley, yet just a part of the entire game, and not the entire game itself. Sunder the world.” Sipa is thus taught by comet-guro, teachers of shooting stars, and has spread far and wide across the archipelago, from the smallest of shore settlements to the greatest of mountain cities, played with rattan balls instead of shooting stars. Every end of harvest, those settlements dedicated to playing Sipa would go and have a sipa tournament in the most prestigious tournament of all: The Shooting Star Massacre, wherein the main stage is two large war barges lashed together.

Discipline Traits HP: 7 - Style: Sharpshooter Weapons: Balls, stones, motes of dust, embers, kicks, knees, elbows, forehead Armors: Silk jackets, silk vests, feetwrap, handwraps, headwraps

Astral Volley

The Star of Morning is a style that turns play into violence. An important aspect of Sipa is the rule that you lose if you lose your volley. The ball must always be in the air. Therefore so do you keep your burning star aloft. This volley increases your momentum, and makes your strikes stronger.

When you make a ranged attack, you may place a Ball in the battlefield adjacent to the target. You can only have 1 Ball at a time in the battlefield. The Ball is a Size 1/2 Object with infinite durability. Whenever the Ball is forcefully moved, it gains 1 Momentum Charge. When it reaches 6 Momentum, you may inflict violence against it to send it flying in a Path 10 from its square, dealing 2 True Hits to all fighters it moves through. Then, you lose the Ball.

Bouncing Lightning

Every part of the battlefield is fair game. As a Starshooter, your volley continues as long as your ball does not fall to the ground. In the same way, life goes on.

You can target blocking terrain now with your ranged attacks. If you do, you can choose that blocking terrain as the origin square for that ranged attack.

In recent times, the best of Comet-Guro have passed down a particular style of Sipa passed down from Bulalakaw themself, and kept away from the rest of competitive Sipa. Practitioners of this particular form of Sipa, known as the Shooting Star, are known as Starshooters, and they use their superior kicking ability to bring violence upon the islands. With their skill, they can use anything--even the smallest mote of dust--as a shooting star that they can kick at the victims of their scorn. The Star of Morning martial art focuses precisely on catching all things, even if they are bullets or javelins. This is a technique that they have primarily developed, and many other Kadungganan have begun to use them. Every part of the battlefield is fair game. As a Starshooter, your volley continues as long as your ball does not fall to the ground. In the same way, life goes on.

Inflict Violences Lightning Kick [1]: Kick with forceful reckoning. Melee Air Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target, push 4. Shooting Star [1]: Pick up any projectile: a bead, a mote of dust, a leaf, ember from a flame, and kick it at a target. Ranged Air Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 5. Rope Dart [1]: Kick out a rope dart and whip it around. Ranged Metal Bravery Attack vs 1 target in range 3. Slide 2.

As a Starshooter, ask yourself why you have turned this gift from the heavens into a Technique. The beauty of the shooting star now tarnished, turned into a horrible horrible sight in the battlefield, one that can decapitate and puncture. Do you enjoy using something seemingly more innocent than a sword as a killing instrument? Do you enjoy treating war as a sport?

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Starshooter Techniques Spend 1 Beat to take raise your feet and ready: take on the Receiving Stance until the end of Fulmination. While in this stance, any ally can target you to make you the origin square of any ranged attack that has a target with range. When you are the target of a ranged attack, you can consume this stance to gain 1 Defend against that attack.

Ratu’s Receive Leap down and recieve an attack. “THE GREAT IWAS-IWAS HAS DODGED THE DIMAKAUSOG’S FIREBALL STRIKE! HIS COUNTERATTACK IS SET TO FINISH THIS MATCH!” Shoutcaster Basaka Tagaka, during the semifinals match point of the Shooting Star Massacre.

+1 Beat to gain the following effect: whenever you are made the origin square of a ranged attack, rush 2 before releasing the attack.

Prereq: Ratu’s Receive

Sidereal Setup Style

Spend 1 Beat to call out your targets: mark a single fighter in range 5. The next attack against the mark consumes the mark and inflicts -1d on the target’s Defense Teeth.

You dig down and kick a projectile up into the air, and your allies see this as a proper signal. The Star of Morning is a style that turns play into violence. An important aspect of Sipa is the rule that you lose if you lose your volley. The ball must always be in the air. Therefore so do you keep your burning star aloft.

+1 Beat to mark up to 3 targets in burst 3 instead. +1 Beat to stack 2 marks on a target.

Giant Scaring Boast

Prereq: Sidereal Setup Style

You shout so loud that it throws your opponents off. A classic tactic. “WALAAAAAA PUKININGINA MO DUKHA WALA ANG HINA MO TANGINA HAHA TANGINA BA’T KA PA NAGLALARO TANGINAMO WEAKSHIT KALANG EH ANO ANO ANO ANO IIYAK KA ANO ANO ANO—“ - Boasting by Team Naga-nagaan in the Match in the Cold Lonely Valley deep in Kalanawan.

Spend 1 Beat to inflict RES-1 or POS-1 on every enemy in blast 3. +1 Beat to inflict Sunder, but every enemy gains Provoke to you. +1 Beat: Increase the range to blast 5.

Rolling Thunder You leap down and strike back an attack, but this ends up with you rolling to the side. “YEAHHHHHHHHHH NEVER GIVE IN! WHEN SOMETHING FAILS, MAKE IT SUCCEED!” - Sipa Master Hanahayan. “Why do you kick, Karipal?” “For the same reason as you, Banas. To become the lightning.” “You will not find it in the arena, you know this.” “No. But every time I look at you… I find I am able to seize heaven’s thunderclaps.”

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Prereq: Giant Scaring Boast Spend 2 Beats to rush 2, and then you gain the Rolling Thunder Boon. Rolling Thunder: 1/Fulmination, when a ranged attack’s line of effect goes through your spaces or any space adjacent to you, deflect the attack, targeting a space or fighter in range 3. When you lose Rolling Thunder, rush 2 again.

KADUNGGANAN

Naga Breaker Straight HE’S DONE IT! HE HAS PERFORMED A PERFECT SHOOTING STAR SET UP! KABAKA TAKES THE SETUP AND PERFORMS THAT IMMORTAL FORBIDDEN TECHNIQUE, THE ONE TO END IT ALL: NAGA! BREAKER! STRAIGHT!!!” - Shoutcaster Sinuka-ang-bala, during the grand finals of the Shooting Star Massacre between the Balangiga Crimson Pudongs and Obertura Straightened Axes.

Prereq: Rolling Thunder Spend 1 Beat to perform the Imperfect Naga Straight: Area Air Bravery Attack vs all targets in line 4. Spend 2 Beats to perform the Reincarnated Naga Straight: Area Air Bravery Attack vs all targets in line 10. Spend 3 Beats to perform the Perfected Naga Breaker Straight: Area Air Bravery+Faith Attack vs all targets in Line 10.

Enlightenment: Meteor Garden There is a secret importance to the Sword dichotomy of the intense study of the blade (to the detriment of everything else). The Bladesong once sang of the Great Unity which contained Dichotomy: unity is thus balance, and balance is achieved with two things against each other. Cause-Effect is a single thing that is not separate from each other: therefore they are not two different things but rather two parts of the same whole. This is exemplified in the beginning of time, where all of existence was nothing but Sky and Sea, both devoid of color or light, an endless undulation, a chaotic dialogue of winds and waves. The Sky and Sea was not separate but part of the same whole, that is the Chaos, the First Cause- Effect. Thus is the importance of learning the Cutting Art of the Sword: the Sword exemplifies that anything that is 2 was once 1, simply cut in twain.

When you deal no successful Hits on an attack, gain +1d on your next attack. This stacks until you score successful hits on an attac. Spend 1 Beat at Strike 2+ to summon a falling meteor, which can be seen atop the battlefield, bursting through the clouds. It starts at Size 2. Every beginning of Strike, it increases in Size by 1. For 1 Beat, teleport to the sky and then axe kick the meteor to the ground, dealing 1+Size True Hits on every enemy in the battlefield.

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KADUNGGANAN Violence Through Creation, Perfecters of the Natural World, Creators of Sorcerous Wonders, Blessed of the Forge Gods “The islands were forged in war, and in war it will be destroyed.” This is an adage that holds true in most of modern The Sword Isles society, and none dare to refute it. The Warsmith, which means Smith of War or colloquially known as Warsmiths, are blacksmiths that have taken up their hammers and drenched them in blood. The Tradition of the Blood-Soaked Hammer of Hari is founded from the god Hari, known as Dewa Wisnu before becoming known as Hari in the Sword Isles. The All-Pervading Preserver, Wisnu was the protector of the World from dangers outside of the Trichiliocosm and anything that would upset the balance, protector of Nihaya. In Annuvaran, they are known as the protector of Dharma. Hari is known as the First King, and is thus another term for King in the Sword Isles. Hari taught the Blood-Soaked Hammer to a settlement that lived in the heart of a volcano, where Naga Hasohas, the Dragon of the Forge, father of the Forge Gods, lived. After Hari (in the incarnation of Krisna) quenched Naga Hasohas’ wrath, he granted a number of panday the ability to quick-craft, as well as to create implements that would win them war. Warsmiths to this day have patronage of the 120 Forge Gods. A particularly large settlement of Warsmiths, in the region of Kumintang, allied with Ba-e, are made entirely of smiths, led by a single Kadanay king who claims that Kadanay are descended from when Hari arrived in the isles. The Kadanay are an ancient people with burning magenta eyes, said to be one of the oldest people on the island. They are the heirs of an ancient kingdom of gold and jade that they have now forgotten. Another notable settlement is the island of Tugas, an island full of sorcerers, witches, and crafters all ruled over by four Kadanay datu, near the island of Pannai. They are allied with both Pannai, Ba-e, and Gatusan. Guro of Warsmiths are often warriors or Datu themselves. They teach a particular brand of combat, one that focuses on turning the battlefield itself into their anvil, their forge, their work sheds. The BloodSoaked Hammer lets one embody the Preserver, letting Warsmiths to craft small items in an instant. Warsmiths are brought up and taught in the ways of the usual smith, but they are taught to control and use the Blood-Soaked Hammer to create battlefield creations and to give it to the tradition of preserving balance. The God-Body is usually their most impressive creation, and it is usually something made in the visage of Wisnu Witness this and learn the truth: nothing created all things in the beginning. All things are born from causeeffect, love-evisceration. Therefore the act of creation is one both inherently divine-mortal, one that you embody. Transcend mortality. If you take up the Discipline of the Warsmith, ask yourself why you have made such a creative Discipline into one of the most destructive ones. Why do you blaspheme your craft? The weapons used to spill so much blood become forged encapsulations of your sins. When you see your steel, do you not feel guilt?

Discipline Traits HP: 6 - Style: Witch Weapons: Hammers, axes, pestles, anvils (tied to a rope), shields, blunt swords, maces, mallets, bludgeons Armors: Silk jackets, silk vests, feetwrap, handwraps, headwraps

Wield The Hammer

Channel Wisnu, great Hari, who created this world according to the Niharis (the worshippers of Hari). In addition to creating the world, He is also sanctioned to protect it at all times from every possible danger from outside the Trichiliocosm. As a Warsmith, claim the Blood-Soaked Hammer, and pave a way for a better world. Thus is the only way to preserve it.

You can quick craft by spending 1 Beat to create a square adjacent to you, putting it on top of the adjacent square. The square is a 1 square wide and tall piece of matter shaped in whatever form you wish.

War Crafting

The Warsmith revels in the holy act of Creation, that thing that happened without anyone performing. The sacred act, the first act, done without an extant cause. With hammer and anvil and ingenuity they become more than what they are.

At the start of Violence: place down 3 Materiel in the battlefield, which cannot be closer than 4 squares to you. Every start of Strike, put down another Materiel no closer than 3 squares of you. Whenever a fighter goes through a Materiel’s square, they pick up the Materiel. Attacking an enemy with materiel lets you gain 1 Materiel from them. Any adjacent ally can spend 1 Beat to give you Materiel as well. You can spend the Materiel to augment your abilities: 0 Fortification: When you suffer a Bravery attack, spend 1 Materiel to cancel 1 Hit. 0 Repulsion: When you are hit by a melee attack, spend 1 Materiel afterward to inflict push 3 on the target. 0 Lissome Pneumatics: When you make a melee attack, spend 1 Materiel to inflict Unbalance x2. 0 Fire Billows Form: When you Stride, you can choose to rush 3, ignoring height. 0 Mystic Prasad Fabrication: After suffering a Faith attack, spend 1 Materiel to inflict Stun on the attacker.

Inflict Violences Siwa’s Hand [1]: Destroy earth. Choose an adjacent square and turn it into difficult terrain. If it’s already Difficult, it becomes Dangerous. If already Dangerous, it becomes Hindering. If already Hintering, it becomes a Chasm. Brahma’s Fist [1]: Strike forcefully, with pride. Melee Earth Bravery Attack vs 1 adjacent target, Push 3. Siwa’s Trident [1]: Unleash a gleaming lance with a quick breaking kata. Area Metal Bravery Attack vs all chosen targets in line 2, inflict Juggle on the target on the last square of the line.

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KADUNGGANAN

Warsmith Techniques Hammer Shatters Earth Use your hammer to make a better world. Warsmiths wield all sorts of weapons, constantly shifting, masters of every possible armament so that they are never caught off-guard. Their strikes are thus universal, across all weapons, a skill and feature that makes them feared across the martial arts world.

Wall Crafting Technique Quickly craft a wall. A popular technick of warsmiths, who are taught it since the first day of their training. Perfected by Panday Pira, it consists of both muscle memory, rigorously trained movement techniques, and meticulously prepared materiel to pull off.

Gilded Kinnara

Spend 1 Beat to strike down with a hammer: make a Melee Metal Bravery-1 Attack vs 1 adjacent target, inflicting knock down as a bane. While knocked down, they cannot move voluntarily and suffer -2 to all defenses. They must spend 1 Beat to stand up. +1 Beat to target all chosen targets in blast 3. +1 Beat to push 3 the target.

Prereq: Hammer Shatters Earth Spend 1 Beat to put down a wall on any side of your own square. +1 Beat to put down a wall a path 5 instead. The walls must be contiguous.

Prereq: Wall Crafting Technique Spend 1 Beat to put down a kinnara statue in a square adjacent to you, a Size 1 object. Any ranged attack that has its line of effect go through within burst 1 of the kinnara instead targets the kinnara. +1 Beat to gild the kinnara. A gilded kinnara has 8 Durability. +1 Beat to throw the kinnara to a square in range 3 instead.

Kinnari are protective maidens, part swan and part bamboofolk. They descend upon the world from the Forests of Himavala, the Sacred Mountain of the Continent, which Jamiyun Kulisa struck down. These beautiful beings have become the subject of many goldsmiths’ art and expression. Kinnari Vessels draw projectiles toward it, as a Kinnari is created to protect her royalty. Gold is a holy metal in the isles. It is abundant, but only because the spirits grant it. Gold is so abundant, in fact, that entire houses are covered in sheets of it. However, it is still a mark of royalty. Gold is often used in sorcerous pursuits as well.

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KADUNGGANAN

Guardian Lion The Guardian Lions, known locally as Simha, Singa, or Chinde, are faithful and legendary lion-dogs made of stone that guard royal enclaves and temples. The Guardian Lions are the protectors of dharma, and in so doing, protect kings and queens who must be essential to the keeping of dharma. Recently, however, the guardian lions have slowly shirked from their responsibility.

Jade Naga “Naga are water and air serpent-spirits of protection, and are one of the dragonkind in the Sword Isles, the others being the Sawa earthunderworld serpents, and the Buwaya earth-water crocodiles. By brandishing a Jade Naga you create a spiritual boundary that prevents the targets of your hatred from inflicting violence.

Prereq: Gilded Kinnara Spend 1 Beat to summon a stone guardian lion in a square adjacent to you, which is a Size 1 object. Any chosen target that ends their Fulmination adjacent to the guardian lion suffers 1 Hit. +1 Beat to animate the guardian lions: every end of your Fulmination, the lions may rush 1. +1 Beat to strengthen the guardian lions: they inflict 1 Hit to any chosen fighter that ends their Fulmination within burst 2 of them.

Prereq: Gilded Kinnara Spend 2 Beats to summon a jade naga: choose a path 4. Summon a Jade Naga on that path, a Durability 7 Object. The object is blocking terrain that cannot be climbed and cannot be shot over, as the naga now guards it. Push 1 any target in the chosen path away from the path. +1 Beat to exalt the naga: increase the path to path 6.

When you start Manifestation:

Enlightenment: Manifest The Godbody The Godbody is the magnum opus of Warsmiths. Warsmith training is usually done in conjunction with the formation of a personal Godbody. When they achieve Master level, only then will they have the techniques required to finish the crafting of the ancient Godbody, which will become their holy implement against darkness and violence. You submerge yourself into the blood of the battle and you are quenched. The battlefield becomes your anvil. Your arms become your hammers. And the VIOLENCE YOU BRING WILL BE THE SWORD YOU FORGE!

violence,

choose

1

God-Body

Sheathe of Ghatotkacha: You can use POS against Faith Attacks. Crown of Kuwanchin: When you forcibly move an enemy, they suffer Unbalance at the end of the slide. Foot of Sagarawivara: When you end your Fulmination, inflict SPD-2 1 on all adjacent enemies. Spend 1 Beat on Strike 3+ to summon and wear the GodBody. Gain the following benefits: 0 You become Size 2. 0 Gain Block 4. 0 Whenever you start or end your Fulmination slide 2 all adjacent enemies. 0 All melee attacks against you have Dullness. 0 All your Area Attacks with Areas of Effect gain +1 to their size.

For 2 Techniques, you may inflict 1 Hit on all adjacent enemies, and then inflict Stun 1.

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KADUNGGANAN

Anting-Anting The most important protective measures in the islands of The Sword Isles are Anting-Anting (charms or talismans) Akai and Ba-e know this as agimat or ajimat.

While a Kadungganan gains an automatic Anting-Anting at certain Legends, they can still gain Anting-Anting from the fiction.

Items filled with occult-spiritual power that can grant extraordinary skills and feats. Anting-Anting can be items (mud, pearls), armor (magical cuirasses and breasplates), or weapons (heirloom swords, holy shields).

Anting-Anting Slots

Mechanically speaking, these are minor passive bonuses that work similarly to Feats or Talents in other systems. You gain your first Anting-Anting at Legend 1, as one of your items burns with the power of your legend, or as your legend grows and more anting-anting become attracted to you. The following are the Anting-Anting that you can choose from. Each Anting-Anting is unique: you cannot have more than one of the same Anting- Anting.

The Kadungganan cannot completely take advantage of the burning spiritual power within anting-anting until they have tempered their own glory. Anting-Anting Slots represent the capability of your Kadungganan to wield these magical items. Arc 1: 2 Anting-Anting Slots -> Arc 2: 3 Anting-Anting Slots -> Arc 3: 4 Anting-Anting Slots

Item Sets

Some Anting-Anting might be part of Sets. Equipping all parts of a Set will give you an additional effect, which is written on each of the Anting-Anting that is part of that set.

Healer’s Diadem

Coral Shield

A holy diadem made of palm leaf and gold.

A shield of burning pink-red coral, blossoming like an ocean flower.

Effect: When you heal an ally, heal them an extra +1. Healer’s Set (1/3): At end of your Fulmination, if you dealt no damage, heal 2. Healer’s Cloak A cloak woven with holy patterns of the sacred spirits.

Effect: When you move through allies, heal them 1, 1 per ally per Beat. Healer’s Set (1/3): At end of your Fulmination, if you inflicted no Hits, heal 2. Healer’s Sarong A beautiful multicolor sarong that touches the ground to better channel the healing properties of nature.

Effect: When you heal an ally, you may Rush 1. Healer’s Set (1/3): At end of your Fulmination, if you dealt no damage, heal 2. Coral Blades Weapons made up of pink-red coral harvested from pristine seas.

Effect: When you make a melee attack, you can convert any Hit into Bleed or Water Vulnerability.. Coral Knight Set (1/3): You become a Coral Knight. You gain water conditioning, ignore water terrain, and all your water attacks inflict 1 True Hit.

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Effect: When you rush, you can collide with enemies. Coral Knight Set (1/3): You become a Coral Knight. You gain water conditioning, ignore water terrain, and all your water attacks inflict 1 True Hit. Coral Plate A breastplate of large coral plates stitched together with sea serpent tendons.

Effect: When you first become Staggered, you gain Block 2. Coral Knight Set (1/3): You become a Coral Knight. You gain water conditioning, ignore water terrain, and all your water attacks inflict 1 True Hit. Coral Kupya A helmet of coral, letting you protect yourself against dazing effects.

Effect: You are immune to Daze and Stun. Coral Knight Set (1/3): You become a Coral Knight. You gain water conditioning, ignore water terrain, and all your water attacks inflict 1 True Hit. Coral Paruka Sandals made up of coral. Ragged and rough, bristling, to keep you awake.

Effect: Ignore the first square of Difficult or Dangerous Terrain you move into when you Stride. Coral Knight Set (1/3): You become a Coral Knight. You gain water conditioning, ignore water terrain, and all your water attacks inflict 1 True Hit.

KADUNGGANAN Flower Cape

Naga Coat

A cape made of beautiful flowers. The flowers are kept in a perpetual state of blossoming.

A long, short-sleeved coat made up of interlinked naga teeth.

Effect: Gain Earth Conditioning, but Fire Vulnerability. Flower Set (1/2): You are immune to difficult and dangerous terrain. Flower Bracers Bracers twined together with flower petals. The flowers do not die.

Effect: All your Earth attacks have +1d. Flower Set (1/2): You are immune to difficult and dangerous terrain. Devil Idol

Effect: Ignore height when you Rush. Naga Set (1/4): You become a Naga Knight: gain Bravery +2 while you’re Flanked. Naga Helm A helmet made of bone and gold in the shape of a naga’s head.

Effect: Your melee attacks gain +1d against all fighters that are Marked, even if it’s not by you. Naga Set (1/4): You become a Naga Knight: gain Bravery +2 while you’re Flanked. Crocodile Tooth

An Idol upon a gold necklace. Represents a malevolent deity.

Your attacks pierce deeper now, like the blessing of the crocodile.

Effect: When you are forcibly moved, inflict 1 Hit on the one forcibly moving you. Crimson Pudong

Effect: When an enemy would remove their last stack of Fray, inflicted by you, inflict +1 True Hit. Spiraling Dagger

A large headwrap bathed in deep crimson blood. Represents burning courage and bravery.

A dagger that spins around, like a furling wave.

Effect: When a fighter in the battlefield is Defeated, heal 1. Iron Skin Mutya You have ingested a mutya that turned your skin to iron.

Effect: Start the fight with Protect 3. Wicked Sharp Mutya You have ingested a mutya that has sharpened your violent intent into a killing spirit.

Effect: Your first Hit in a Melee Bravery Attack is a True Hit. Gold Eye Necklace A necklace that depicts the gold sun eye, a burning surya.

Effect: When you inflict a Bane, inflict +1 stack of it. Naga Javelin A javelin made of a deep sea dragon tooth, or perhaps the bone is mined from those caves that have titanic skeletons?

Effect: Your ranged attacks have -2 to their maximum range, but they gain +1d. Naga Set (1/4): You become a Naga Knight: gain Bravery +2 while you’re Flanked. Naga Gauntlets Gauntlets made up of a giant naga’s tooth. It is abrasive to touch, and can be used to cut.

Effect: 1/Fulmination, when you push an enemy, inflict 1 Hit. Naga Set (1/4): You become a Naga Knight: gain Bravery +2 while you’re Flanked.

Effect: All your melee attacks against close targets always deal 1 Hit minimum in a Violence Cast. This does not ignore immunity and conditioning. Protective Amulet A stone inscribed with mentala. Protects from bullets and all.

Effect: Gain metal conditioning but suffer water and air vulnerability. Lightning Agimat A piece of wood scorched by lightning, turned into a protective amulet.

Effect: Gain vulnerability. Steel Taming

air conditioning but

suffer

earth

A taming shield made for blocking all sorts of attacks.

Effect: You can use POS against Faith Attacks. Hatred Agimat A talisman with the face of a grinning demon. Feared and hated by all.

Effect: All enemies in burst 2 of you are considered as suffering provoke to you, which cannot be overridden. Kawaca A cuirass with the face of a vengeant deity in front. Worn by high-ranking warriors.

Effect: Begin the fight with Block 2.

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KADUNGGANAN Garoda Winghelm

Sorcerer’s Talisman

A golden helmet made in the shape of a Garoda, the avian Gods that protect the Jar of Souls in Heaven.

A talisman with a magical beast’s tooth, nail, eye, or hair lock tied to it.

Effect: You cannot collide with fighters. Garoda Set (1/3): You are considered a Garoda Knight. You have 1 set Garoda Wings, which you can wear for 1 Beat. If you do, gain Garoda Flight x3, wherein you can teleport when you move or are moved. Garoda Wingspear

Effect: When you spend 2-3 Beats, gain Stability. Witch’s Diadem

A golden spear with the wings of the Garoda twining about it. It sings with a heavenly tune, like one sung by kinnara, and is perfectly weighted.

Effect: Your Combo Breaker Penalty becomes -1d/-3d instead of -2d/-3d. Garoda Set (1/3): You are considered a Garoda Knight. You have 1 set Garoda Wings, which you can wear for 1 Beat. If you do, gain Garoda Flight x3, wherein you can teleport when you move or are moved. Garoda Wingcoat A golden breastplate and coat that covers almost the entire body, but is surprisingly light. Decorated with intricate gold jewelry patterned into the wings of a garoda.

Effect: When you suffer a melee or ranged attack, you can rush 1 square after the attack. Garoda Set (1/3): You are considered a Garoda Knight. You have 1 set Garoda Wings, which you can wear for 1 Beat. If you do, gain Garoda Flight x3, wherein you can teleport when you move or are moved. Godtree Kalasagdako Kalasagdako is “Large Shield”. This is a giant kalasag made of holy strangler fig fibers and wood, strengthened by shaman ritual.

Effect: You gain Defends on 5+ on your Defense Teeth. Wicked Panabas A giant, broad-bladed panabas, once used only for ceremony, now used for inflicting violence. Moonflowers are inscribed upon the base of its blade.

Effect: When you roll a 10, roll another Attack Tooth. Eagle Eye Bracelet You have a bracelet made of gold beads, with the center being an eagle eye. It burns bright when you aim.

Effect: When you end your Fulmination with unspent Beats, your next ranged attack gains Sharpness and +1d. Explosion Inscriptions You have surat inscribed upon your weapons burning red, which burn hotter and hotter and eventually explode as the fight continues.

Effect: Whenever you make an area or ranged attack, gain 1 Explosion Charge. When you reach 3 Explosion Charges, immediately trigger the following effect. Gatling Fulmination: Deal 1 True Hit to all enemies adjacent to you, then lose all Explosion Charges.

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A bone diadem that stretches down to one’s eyes. Gives one the visage of a wicked sorcerer.

Effect: All bursts, lines, blasts, and paths on your Area Attacks have +1 to their size. Scale Lamellar A lamellar made of square rectangles made of either crocodile scales, naga scales, or iron.

Effect: When you are pushed, gain Block 1 after the push. Razor Bracers You wield bracers that are fitted with razor sharp obsidian blades.

Effect: Whenever you end your Fulmination adjacent to 2+ enemies, inflict 1 Hit on one of them. Stingray Shield Gatusanon would coat their shields with stingray skin, treated to the point that they almost had a pearloid quality. This dulls blades.

Effect: You gain water conditioning, but gain fire vulnerability. Copper Claws Fingernail ornaments that create the visage of musang claws. Can rend entire ships.

Effect: Inflict Bleed per 9+ on the Attack Teeth. Copper Cat Demon Set (1/3): You ignore Height when you move on your Fulmination, and you do not suffer fall damage. Copper Demon Mask A mask depicting a tusked bearcat, grinning indefinitely, in defiance of the sun.

Effect: When you forcibly move a fighter, inflict 1 True Hit on them, 1/Fulmination. Copper Cat Demon Set (1/3): You ignore Height when you move on your Beat, and you do not suffer fall damage. Copper Ear Ornaments Copper ear ornaments that, instead of depicting the wings of an eagle, showcase razor sharp feline ears.

Effect: Whenever you are attacked while you’re flanked, gain SPD+1. Copper Cat Demon Set (1/3): You ignore Height when you move on your Beat, and you do not suffer fall damage.

KADUNGGANAN Fireblood Mutya

Interlinked Gold Chain

A burning teardrop of crimson flame. When ingested, fills your body with a warm light, and then rouses you to action. You cannot contain yourself.

A kamagi, interlinked twelve necklaces braided together into a long chain that winds about the entire body. Strengthens your will.

Effect: You gain Fire Conditioning, but suffer Water Vulnerability. Gan Idol

Effect: You can now use RES against Bravery Attacks. Raiding Rope

An idol depicting the elephant-headed god Gan, brought to the isles by Ashinin Missionaries. Gan is the God of Beginnings and Intelligence.

Effect: Gain earth conditioning but suffer metal vulnerability. Alampay Makinaadmanon “Sage’s Robe-Cloak.” Long flowing hooded robes that look similar to a raincoat or a poncho, decorated with textiles depicting dragons and skies and seas and leviathans and devilapes.

Effect: You can Surge twice per Violence. Path of Concordance Set (1/3): The first attack against you in combat deals 0 Hits. Kerisgala “Wandering Keris.” Other nations might have the pewter staff as a symbol of announcing a sage’s presence, but the grand Concordant Sages of the Sword Isles perform rituals and scare off predatory animals with a galakeris, Wandering Dagger, a usually sheathed keris decorated with bells and tassels.

Effect: All squares close to you are considered Difficult Terrain for all enemies. Path of Concordance Set (1/3): The first attack against you in combat deals 0 Hits. Dukha Paruka “Beggar’s Sandals.” Wooden sandals with a simple abaca fiber fit over it to keep the foot in place. It is raised on two rectangular platforms. It is not very notable otherwise. Beggar sandals are what Makinaadmanon wear to travel the lands, wandering mendicants, who have nothing to ride on but their feet.

Effect: You ignore dangerous terrain when you Stride. Path of Concordance Set (1/3): The first attack against you in combat deals 0 Hits. Third Eye Gem You have a precious stone embedded upon your brow, and it gleams with a burning fire.

A rope made of abaca, with a hook at the end. Used for boats, but equally useful against warriors.

Effect: When you Rush, you can choose to swing on a Rope instead: choose 1 square in burst 2. Shift yourself to any space that is exactly 2 squares away from that square. If there is a fighter on the square you move into, push 1. Balyan Vajra-Bell A vajra with a bell on the other end, rang when performing important rituals. Diwata dance nearby, ancestor gods look down at you. Sometimes given by Sri Dewi Wetsuwan in the northern regions of the Footsteps of the Gods, where she makes her ministry as one of the Four Warlords Under Heaven, ruling over the northern quadrant of Gubat Banwa, where she sits wielding her embroidered sarapang Makarishula and consorts of 180 Valkyrie Poet-Warriors, each one married to her.

Effect: When you heal a fighter, gain +2d on your next attack. Bulawan Ear Ornaments The reddish gold, known as Bloodgold, is the purest form of gold in the Isles, and is said to represent the God of Crimson War Idda Mangubat, the Greatest Warrior of the Echoing Annals. These ear-wing ornaments attune your soul to the slaughter, and causes you to sink into ultraviolence when you can smell blood. Idda Mangubat now travels the isles as a warrior-for-hire for those datu that he chooses is worthy.

Effect: Making melee attacks against Staggered fighters inflicts 1 True Hit on them. Bulawan Robe Bulawan is that reddish Bloodgold, but it is also a holy color, of scarlet, that has pine-like fibers soaked in the reddest of reds–so red that they are gold. The bulawan color is only saved for the most brave of warriors, and within it is the unyielding spirit of one thousand warriors. Ashr are beings that have six arms and three heads, considered demigods in the sense that they are partly divine, thrown out of heaven for having drunk too much of Divine Shura, the drink of immortality from Heavenly Banana Trees. Ashr wander the world looking for things to do to Be Unifed once again, becoming Hiyang.

Effect: Begin Violence with Stability x2.

Effect: At Strike 3+, the First Hit on all your Faith Attacks become True Hits. Hawk’s Talon Bangle A bangle made up of gold and talons of hawks. You can aim down it when you aim with your bow.

Effect: All your ranged attacks with ranges gain +2 range.

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KADUNGGANAN Butterfly Pewter Staff

Naga Maw Periapt

A pewter staff that wherein cocoons blossom from, wherein scarlet butterflies erupt whenever the bell is rung. The scarlet butterfly is an important symbol of metamorphosis and symbiosis for the First Makinaadmanon, who ascertained that it was nature’s beauty, cyclical nature and inherent unity condensed into a single being. Its fluttering and beauty is brief, but the fact that it ends make it important, and the spores it spreads with its wings ensure that life continues evermore.

This is a maw made of gold that wraps around the lower half of the face and flanges into two wing-shaped peaks that elongate the ears, giving the illusion that the wearer is a naga itself. Worn by gods and kings of The Sword Isles, one can only wear this periapt when allowed by Balyan. If not, both spirits and demons will follow you. Naga are dragons, but commonly are guardians against fire, while serpents are guardians against earth, sickness, and beast, while crocodiles are guardians against water and death.

Effect: Whenever you end your Fulmination, heal 1 all adjacent allies.

Effect: Your first Faith Attack in Violence has Sharpness.

Stone Geni Idol

Parrying Palisay

Geni is the god of fire found in the isles. This idol is made of stone from the depths of ancient volcanoes across the isles. Confers the ability to become completely immune to fire. The first to find and wield this stone was known as the Magmabreaker Tunggadiraja, who conquered the volcano naga of the isle of Kadaki.

A palisay is a smaller shield, almost a buckler, as opposed to the full body kalasag. Only the greatest of warriors can afford to wield a palisay–the lightness lets them be quick in their parrying. Sumpoy is the Slaver of Souls and Batara Yamakala is the God of the Underworld, the Keeper of Justice, and of all Death. The God of Life, funnily enough, belongs to Si Dapa, The Kneeling One, whom many–due to the fact that Life is an antecedent of Death–worship wrongfully as the God of Death. By bearing Si Dapa’s face upon the shield, you can enact the retort of the living.

Effect: Inflict Fray per 8+ on the Attack Teeth. Peakflower Diadem The Peakflower is a colorful blossom with multiple petals, reminiscent of chrysanthemum, that can only grow in the coldest areas at the peak of mountains in the Sword Isles, where the caps are sheathed in frost and snow. This sheathes the wearer in a veil of chill, and causes them to cough out peakflower petals. As this anting-anting is refined, its flower grows, and begins strangling you.

Effect: You gain Wind Conditioning, but Earth Vulnerability. Vairakav War Attire Golden armor with a sun-tiger on the chest plate. This includes a set of armor: a peaked helmet, gold-and-brass lamellar, gilded dragon bracers, a golden dragonfly belt woven with a veil-thin silk as a skirt, and golden tail-eating dragon bangles. Once belonged to the ancient warriors of Put’wan. Vairakav is one of the fierce forms of the great god Rayasaiwa, who destroyed the past world to pave the way for this one.

Effect: Gain +2 HP.

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Effect: When you Deflect, gain 2 Defends instead of 1. Pestilent Knife A ritual knife crusted with the blood of divine beings. When used to attack, brings pestilence upon the target of your scorn. Virulences and plagues are said to belong to the old Sky God, who was so distant from mortals that he does not know the threat of plagues upon them.

Effect: Every 10 on Attack Teeth against fighters inflict a stack of Pestilence. While they have Pestilence, they cannot be healed, cannot gain positive Ability Mods, and suffer -1d to all Defense Teeth.

KADUNGGANAN

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DIVINATIONS

V: Divinations

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DIVINATIONS Divinations are generators that can help you move the game forward, in any mode of play. These are not completely fleshed out scenarios and generations but rather, things that can spark your creation. Take what you can get from here and go wild with it, while hewing close to the Principles of the setting. Use these to inspire new situations or answer open-ended questions.

Types of Divinations There are a number of Divination types that can be used at any juncture, either by the Umalagad or by the Kadungganan during Solo Play. Action Divinations: This is a list of actions that an NPC might take. Vibe Divinations: This is a list of vibes that a place or an NPC might have. Descriptor Divinations: A list of descriptors to grant items, actions, and vibes more color and context.

Folk Traits Divinations: A list of traits that can be used to make characters more unique. Location Divinations: This is a list of Locations that one might find almost anywhere in the Sword Isles. Social Class Divination: A list of Social Classes and the common professions or roles within them, though these are not strict roles within each class. Character Principle Divinations: A list of Principles for all characters. Character Wants and Ruminations Divinations: A list of wants and ruminations for quickly making something for a character. Seed Divinations: These are some situations or contexts that one might find themselves in. NPC Divinations: These are some NPCs that one might find in the Sword Isles.

Actions

Vibe

Use this to inspire an event or situation. Interpret the roll according to the situation and context of the fiction. Roll a d100. This is always a verb.

Use these if you’re looking for a vibe or some sort of feeling that can be interpreted in a particular situation or context. This table can be combined with Action to find an interesting creative prompt that you can interpret and begin play through. This is always a noun. Roll a d100.

1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 13-14 15-16 17-18 19-20 21-22 23-34 25-26 27-28 29-30 31-32 33-34 35-36 37-38 39-40 41-42 43-44 45-46 47-48 49-50

Defile Revere Instill Fear Boast Destroy Nourish Create Avoid Reject Love Abhor Hate Rebel Change Transform Elide Gather Strengthen Nurture Deflect Threaten Provoke Obsess Devote Project

51-52 53-54 55-56 57-58 59-60 61-62 63-64 65-66 67-68 69-70 71-72 73-74 75-76 77-78 79-80 81-82 83-84 85-86 87-88 89-90 91-92 93-94 95-96 97-98 99-100

Await Impress Depress Debate Endure Lose Explore Finish Mend Summon Reduce Demean Protect Communicate Demand Expect Grieve Find Hunt Express Break Raid Inspect Worship Entertain

1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 13-14 15-16 17-18 19-20 21-22 23-34 25-26 27-28 29-30 31-32 33-34 35-36 37-38 39-40 41-42 43-44 45-46 47-48 49-50

319

Fire Ritual Affection Family Settlement Band Violence Mysticism Lore Song Poem God Spirit Faith Belief Altar Opinion Palace Rival Ideal Fate Health Forestry Vengeance Justice

51-52 53-54 55-56 57-58 59-60 61-62 63-64 65-66 67-68 69-70 71-72 73-74 75-76 77-78 79-80 81-82 83-84 85-86 87-88 89-90 91-92 93-94 95-96 97-98 99-100

Healing Knowledge Fame Power Glory Freedom Liberty Emancipation Ruin Pride Loss Law Transgression War Peace Supply Venture Leader Wise Folk Priest/Priestess Love Hatred Wealth Relationship Burden

DIVINATIONS

Descriptor

Folk Traits

Use this divination if you need to find how an action might have been done, or need a more precise descriptor of a location or a vibe. Use these to inspire

Use this particularly for traits for folk, which is often very precise. In general, you roll d100 three times to gain three traits. You can also roll on Descriptor to give the Folk another, more esoteric trait. 1 Wise 51 Slow 2 Fair 52 Joyful 3 Snob 53 Unintelligent 4 Noble 54 Thrillseeker 5 Stoic 55 Glory seeker 6 Aloof 56 Wicked 7 Lax 57 Sharp 8 Attractive 58 Secretive 9 Beautiful 59 Languid 10 Vengeful 60 Irresistible 11 Adventurous 61 Lethargic 12 Wrathful 62 Drowsy 13 Boisterous 63 Curious 14 Tall 64 Questing 15 Lenient 65 Ponderous 16 Intelligent 66 Spiritual 17 Honorable 67 Superstitious 18 Cruel 68 Reverent 19 Quiet 69 Docile 20 Frail 70 Loyal 21 Friendly 71 Fearful 22 Stealthy 72 Brave 23 Manipulative 73 Reckless 24 Troublemaker 74 Lonely 25 Stingy 75 Vibrant 26 Timid 76 Extraverted 27 Lazy 77 Introverted 28 Pragmatic 78 Antisocial 29 Resourceful 79 Determined 30 Weary 80 Ambitious 31 Anxious 81 Silly 32 Honest 82 Hateful 33 Infamous 83 Prejudiced 34 Fatalistic 84 Faithful 35 Experienced 85 Sensitive 36 Deceitful 86 Short 37 Wary 87 Affectionate 38 Strong 88 Compassionate 39 Bold 89 Spoiled 40 Dauntless 90 Soft-Spoken 41 Famous 91 Loud 42 Artistic 92 Direct 43 Creative 93 Cutting 44 Comfy 94 Quirky 45 Charming 95 Even 46 Violent 96 Kind 47 Temperamental 97 Nice 48 Stern 98 Sad 49 Fickle 99 Avoidant 50 Insightful 100 Confrontational

1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 13-14 15-16 17-18 19-20 21-22 23-24 25-26 27-28 29-30 31-32 33-34 35-36 37-38 39-40 41-42 43-44 45-46 47-48 49-50

Foggy Silent Melancholy Bright Warm Cozy Nostalgic Rabid Abrasive Pensive Dull Stagnant Tense Angry Hostile Vile Peaceful Calm Noisy Tense Anxious Relaxed Pressured Excited Dense

51-52 53-54 55-56 57-58 59-60 61-62 63-64 65-66 67-68 69-70 71-72 73-74 75-76 77-78 79-80 81-82 83-84 85-86 87-88 89-90 91-92 93-94 95-96 97-98 99-100

Foul Wild Settled Low Beautiful Heartrending Violent Rich Simple Fertile Grim Hidden Perilous Dead Ruined Cold Blighted Lush Flooded Empty Weird Uncanny Reverent Spiritual Dignified

320

DIVINATIONS

Location

Settlement Problem

Use this divination if you need an answer about where something might be, or perhaps what you come across while traveling. These are locations you can find across the Sword Isles. Roll a d100. 1-2 Shrine 51-52 Flower Plains 3-4 Pavilion 53-54 Rice Paddies 5-6 Town House 55-56 Rice Terraces 7-8 Ruins 57-58 Swidden Farms 9-10 Palace 59-60 Mangrove Forest 11-12 Stilt House 61-62 Stream 13-14 Upriver Town 63-64 Quiet Grove 15-16 Shore City 65-66 Hilltop 17-18 Farming Village 67-68 Plateau Top 19-20 Fortress 69-70 Temple City 21-22 Shrine 71-72 Pagoda 23-34 Altar 73-74 Communal Worship House 25-26 Temple 75-76 Lake 27-28 Low Mountain 77-78 Delta 29-30 Mountain Peak 79-80 Revered Site 31-32 Near Wood 81-82 Raiding Outpost 33-34 Deep Woods 83-84 Hallowed Cave 35-36 Near Shores 85-86 Burial Site 37-38 Far Sea 87-88 Merchant Barge 39-40 Canopy 89-90 Caravan 41-42 Hunter’s House 91-92 War Barge 43-44 Fishing Village 93-94 Treasure Ships 45-46 Vast Plains 95-96 Hunting Fields 47-48 Deep Wilds 97-98 River Marketplace 49-50 Rivers 99-100 Defiled Place

Use this divination to find out what problems there might be in a settlement, whether it be a town, a village, or a city. Roll a d100. 1-2 Scarce Provisions 3-4 Agitated a God 5-6 Infestation Nearby 7-8 Infiltrated by Disease 9-10 Cursed by Pestilence 11-12 Hexed by a Witch 13-14 Natural Disaster 15-16 Fateful Omen 17-18 Haunted by the Past 19-20 Angered the Ancestors 21-22 Killed an innocent 23-34 Mysterious murders 25-26 People going lost 27-28 Death of the datu 29-30 Raided by an enemy settlement 31-32 Hunted by Beasts 33-34 Broken truce 35-36 Target of a rival settlement 37-38 Preparing for a revenge raid 39-40 Conflict between nobles 41-42 Royalty vying for the seat of chief/ king 43-44 Stuck between rival settlements 45-46 Victim of a vengeful God 47-48 Broken by giants 49-50 Urgent venture

321

51-52 Betrayals from within 53-54 Nature retaliates 55-56 The settlement is too cold and is dihiyang 57-58 Demons have arrived 59-60 The dead have begun to walk 61-62 Shadows are hunting those alive 63-64 Turned into ruin from a war 65-66 Rejected travelers 67-68 River trade blocked 69-70 Landslide blocked off travel 71-72 A tradition harms others 73-74 Ceremony is interrupted 75-76 Feasting is invaded 77-78 Accident causes ill omen 79-80 Debt arrives 81-82 Revolution against the leader 83-84 Royalty finds forbidden love 85-86 Societal tradition forces oppresses others 87-88 Tyrant oppresses subjects 89-90 Chattel trade 91-92 Families get in a fight 93-94 An outcast returns with vengeance 95-96 A lady is stolen by raiders 97-98 Ritualists create harmful cult 99-100 Roll twice

DIVINATIONS

Social Class Divination In the land of The Sword Isles, the Social Class system is the skeleton and framework whereupon all things dance. It is so ingrained into society that tawo even give things in nature titles that reflect their social rank: Datung Bayawak is a term for large and great monitor lizards or komodo dragons, while Oripung Bukad is a term for small and “frail” flowers that shy away when touched. Here are the Social Classes of The Sword Isles laid out. For each of the Classes, there will be a short table to help you visualize what each person of each of the Classes would look like, as so much of society hinges upon them.

Basic Clothing The basic garment for males is the bahag (think a bulky Scottish kilt, probably more colorful, and richer people would have them made from foreign silks). For females, it is the lambong (now in modern times known as the malong, a sort of tube skirt that could be worn either as a skirt, or as a tube top when pulled up to the chest. Some were so long that they could be pulled up over the head.

322

While debtors usually only wore those (undyed as well), warriors and other upper class would wear additional garments on top of that: sarongs, sarouels, wooden or golden clogs, diadems, golden crowns, black and white shawls, silk jackets, silk gowns that reached the ankles, hardwood breastplates, elephant hide breastplates, and the everpresent pudong (think of it like a short turban or bandana. Grandiose ones are large like actual turbans). Roll For a Social Class Randomize which social class a character is. Roll a d12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Infantry (Debtor) Servant (Debtor) Peasant (Debtor) Freeman Noble Spiritual Leader (Noble) Head Spiritual Leader (Royalty) Binukot (Royalty) Leader’s Council (Royalty) Leader’s Royal Family/Kedatuan (Royalty) Leader/Datu/Prince/Suzerain/Lord/Gat (Royalty) Paramount Leader/Rajah/Rani/Maharaja/Hari/ Hara/Sangpamegat/God-King (Royalty)

DIVINATIONS

Royalty

Sandig Sa Datu

Datu is the term for the heads of settlements. Leaders, lords, and owners of vast amounts of heirloom wealth. In Ancient Visayas, Datu was also the term for the closest family of the Datu: their spouses and their children, denoting them as lordly royalty, higher than other nobility. In The Sword Isles, we use the term kedatuan to denote that they’re royalty, belonging to the family of a lord, so as to not confuse the terms.

1 2 3 4

The Paramount Leader Larger settlements, such as the Rajahnate of Gatusan or Bae, would have multiple datu underneath a single Paramount Leader (usually having the name of King or Emperor). A Paramount Leader is usually chosen of all royalty in multiple settlements settling on one that is considered “fit to lead” the datu. This procedure is sometimes democratic. The parameters for becoming a paramount leaderusually include warrior prestige, skillful merit, and natural charisma.

5

6

Recently many paramount leaders have used a claim to divine blood or divine manifestation to become kings. Leader’s Council The closest followers of the datu constitute a sort of inner circle of people. This is usually called sandig sa datu. They might not be the datu’s kin or blood (although they can be, or might be of the nobility), but they are treated with a similar deference. This is something that can be found across all the polities. Kedatuan are treated more or less with the same deference as the Datu, and enjoy all the benefits of being nobility. Datu are lords of their following. As already established, land is not the scale by which a Datu’s power is measured, by their following, known as their haop. Their haop engulfs and covers all the people that follow the Datu: from nobility all the way to the smallest of debtors. Kedatuan can still fall into debt, especially should they loan something but find that they cannot pay it back. In this manner, kedatuan can become debtors to even other datu, or even to other servants. Datu are expected to be skilled in war, and truly many Datu earn their name through valor in combat. There are also Datu that become Datu after being married to someone who is of Kedatuan. Datu are usually skilled in trades as well, many becoming blacksmiths, jewelers, song makers, and more.

Royalty Dispositions 1

Black-toothed and quirky eyed, with a penchant for collecting scraps to create new inventions. Would love to explore the ancient tombs left behind by the Kadanay people.

2

Large and heavyset, always grim. Readying their haop for war. Is vigilant, knows that another settlement is going to come any day to attack for something they did not do.

3

A datu hellbent on correcting injustices, for they suffered injustices of their own and they would not wish it upon others.

4

An ancient and wizened old datu, leaning upon a staff made of the bones of an ancient tiger. Skilled in the ways of offensive sorcery. Seeks to create a new religion.

5

A skilled and tricky lord who knows the ways of politics and abuses it to get what they want. Helms a large haop, which is built upon spider web.

6

A young datu who has something to prove, and sometimes does not listen to the counsel of the wiser due to his rashness.

7

A broken datu who has suffered too much during their lifetime, and goes into combat for if they do not, they will break down.

8

A datu burning with ideals, seeking to change the course of the world as they see it, attempting to abolish the classes from the top down.

9

An older, more caring Datu, who treats their followers like their own children and cares for them as their own.

10

A militaristic Datu hellbent on conquest of the entire archipelago. All in the name of peace.

Binukot Binukot are veiled princes and princesses, hidden away in special compartment rooms in the attics of royal houses or hidden deep within sacred caves, all caled bukot. Binukot are never shown to the public eye, but are taught how to sing, fight, dance, and read within their bukot. When a binukot is brought out into the public, they are carried by strongmen or women upon their shoulders, making sure that the binukot never let their feet touch the ground. They are usually used as barter or leverage to create social kinship and connections with other settlements, letting one’s own binukot marry another datu to establish a strong bond with that settlement. Of course, not many binukot like this arrangement.

Atubang. The datu’s chief minister and privy counselor. Paragahin. The datu’s steward, one who speaks, makes arrangements or takes charge for them. Bilanggowan. The datu’s sheriff, who has a house called a bilanggo that acts as a jail. Paratawag. The towns-crier, who announces unto the settlement through shouting from a tall tree or delivering a message directly to the persons concerned (such as calling specific Kadungganan for a raid). Senapati. A warlord and commander of a portion of the Datu’s army, answering directly to the datu. In smaller settlements, a datu takes on the role of a senapati. Shahbandar. The collector of anchorage fees and the one who sets up the port markets during the trading season.

323

DIVINATIONS Royalty Problems 1

Another Datu has declared war upon them.

2

The umalagad, ancestor spirits, of that datu are displeased with them, and it has caused ill fortune to befall the settlement.

3

The diwata are rampaging nearby, and they do not know why.

4

One of the polities is planning to conquer them.

5

A Rajahnate settlement is closing their trade routes with them, causing a major blow to their supply lines, and will likely cause starvation or loss of wealth.

6

They are being attacked by either the Lakanate or the Sultanate, to further conquest (if the Lakanate) or faith (if the Sultanate).

7

They are being raided by foreign powers.

8

The Confederation has deemed them to be too dangerous to the nature around them, and is launching a raid upon them.

324

DIVINATIONS

Nobility Tumao in the Rajahnate, Timway in the Sultanate, Maginoo in the Lakanate, Kadangyan in the Confederation.

Nobility Problems 1

Another noble has blasphemed their countenance, and must be punished.

2

They must be ready and need new items for makeup for the coming feast.

3

Someone from the lower class saw them making love with someone that they should not be making love with.

Many Nobility act as retainers and vassals to the Datu, helping them and doing work for the datu, should they need it, whether it be contributing materiel, working their fields, or fighting in raids and war engagements. However, they do not need to pay tribute, only that they fight with the datu should the datu call upon them, and they very commonly engage in their own pursuits, whether it be artistic or mercantile.

4

They have broken the Golden Web Tapestry, and seek to evade the consequences or are being hunted down.

5

A noble is hunted down for not honoring a trading contract with another settlement.

6

A noble has blasphemed the name of the Datu in a feast.

Golden Web Tapestry

7

A noble has lost their heirloom wealth and must get it back.

8

A noble has lost their imported texts, which they use to learn more languages. They believe someone has stolen it, as texts are well wanted as culture in other settlements.

The Nobility are usually those that have in some way a blood connection with the Datu: either through lineage, as their relatives (cousins, nieces, nephews, and the like), or as bloodsworn kin (through the Sanduguan, the Blood Compact). The Nobles are considered the second rank of nobility, right below the kedatuan royalty.

Nobility and Kedatuan, and especially Datu, are beholden to the Golden Web Tapestry: an “elevated” form of speech that is polite speech in all but name. One is expected to be dancing the Golden Web Tapestry when before a noble, even if you are noble yourself, and especially if you are of lower class. You cannot speak certain words before them, and you must speak wholly in third-person, never addressing the noble directly-ie. as “you”. This polite speech is expected even amongst balyan and other spirit mediums that are ubiquitous in the archipelago. Other examples include burping or talking about how dirty a noble’s nails or ears have become.

Nobility Dispositions 1

An eccentric noble who pores over palm leaf manuscripts seeking enlightenment.

2

A calm noble who loves performing tea, wine, and betel nut ceremonies for their guests.

3

A generous noble who loves giving away items for the ones that amuse them.

4

A broken noble who has seen the terrors of war, despite not being a warrior.

5

A brave noble singer seeks to travel with Kadungganan to expand their song repertoire and to create more songs for the settlement.

6

A wide-eyed noble who wants to see the world from beyond their palace walls.

7

A wise noble who gives actually good advice, and loves to sit upon the porch of their house observing the town.

As spiritual leaders, spirit mediums are very often the right hand of the settlement leader, and they are considered to be their other half. While the chief speaks and wars, the spiritual leader heals, pleads with the gods, and performs sorcery. They perform rituals to ensure that raids and harvests are bountiful.

8

A loving noble who makes sure that their debtors are properly treated.

9

A conniving noble who has mastered the polite speech of the Golden Web Tapestry, who wishes to climb the social class even further.

The head spiritual leaders, such as the Katuuran (Head Balyan), the High Bishops, or the Wali ar commonly treated as Royalty due to their influence, charisma, and their function in society as performing the most important rituals to accrue merit, blessings, and appease the ancestors and gods.

10

An artful noble who creates paintings upon palm leaf scrolls, and uses sorcery only to fly.

11

A noble who thrives on the thrill of battle, usually to the detriment of themself or their friends.

12

A strict noble who has mastered a particular form of weaponry, and acts as a guardian or bodyguard (kawal) for kedatuan royalty.

If one breaks the Golden Web Tapestry, it unravels a whole slew of consequences. Things such as fines and debt for the lower classes, while other nobles might suffer societal disgrace and public shame, which is something no noble wants, as they would be indebted, or have Debt, to the noble that they committed the breaking of the Golden Web Tapestry to. Of course, the Golden Web Tapestry is simply a social construct, and needs a society to be enforced. Spiritual Leaders Very often, the spiritual leaders of a settlement (whether they be a priest, a balyan spirit medium, or a bishop) are also considered nobles of their settlement, or at least higher than Freemen. There tend to be several spiritual leaders in a single settlement, and a mix of Bulanan bishops exist with Virbanwan priests and Gatusan balyan.

325

DIVINATIONS

326

DIVINATIONS

Freemen Freeman are a privileged class, and not a serf like class. Those of the Freeman Class are free to change their allegiance to their datu at any time, theoretically. Theoretically because it is not uncommon for many freemen to own a large amount of debt to a certain datu, or choose to become retainers for that Datu.

Freemen Dispositions 1

A freeman who loves singing and will never give it up for the world.

2

A freeman with a particular sweet tooth and is running around trying to satisfy it.

3

A young one who wishes to become a Datu someday.

4

A freeman who takes great pleasure in abusing their servant for some twisted reason.

5

A freeman who holds an important secret of a noble that they refuse to let go.

6

A freeman who is in love with the binukot (veiled prince or princess) of another settlement, but does not have the bugay or bride price to be able to buy their hand in marriage.

A Kadungganan is a kind of freeman. They may pledge their services to a Datu for a time, and then leave and change allegiances whenever it pleases them, or whenever they need to. This is their privilege: they are not part of a datu’s particular following.

7

An eccentric freeman who loves collecting herbs and hides away in their house for days at a time.

8

An overly serious freeman who does their best in their trade and does not want to slip up, ever.

Freeman, thanks to their freedom, get to enjoy a wide variety of freedoms. Freemen usually render services to the datu. Thus many freemen work as laborers. Some owning their own farms, others true warriors, others professional singers, and even others as potters and traders and merchants, sometimes with wealth rivaling the Datu’s own.

Freemen Problems

When a Freeman either chooses, or manages to pay off their debt to the lord they have chosen to follow, they may choose to leave, traveling and either seeking out another lord and settlement to follow, or perhaps building up a settlement themselves.

Freemen are considered a third rank of nobility, right below the nobles. They do not need to work to pay off a labor obligation like debtors—although they can accrue debt—but they can choose what to do. Many become capitalists in their own right, become datu, or perhaps enjoy the protection of community and helps around the datu. Very commonly, though, whatever the pick up as a trade, they must fight with the datu when the time comes.

1

The freeman does not have enough wealth to be able to move to another Datu.

2

A freeman is discontent being the retainer of a Datu, and wishes to dethrone the datu and take it for themselves.

3

A freeman has lost their means of living, and is quickly accruing debt. At the rate that they’re in, they will become oripun.

4

They have lost an important piece of bahandi heirloom wealth, one of the only ones they have.

5

They have lost the favor of the datu, and must seek a different datu to serve.

6

Their family has been killed after a raid, and they lost their source of livelihood to the raiders.

327

DIVINATIONS

Freemen Professions 1

Warrior. A freeman that prides on fighting for the Datu. Probably a Kadungganan as well.

2

Jeweler. Someone who is an expert at creating jewelry.

3

Hunter. A freeman who uses state of the art technology and strategies to hunt down large game.

4

Weaver. A skilled weaver of silks and cottons, usually for the Datu’s benefit.

5

Merchant. A skilled trader and peddler of wares, whether it be foreign silks or local civets.

6

Potter. A freeman who is skilled in the ways of clay pottery. Perhaps they even have the means to craft porcelain. They may have a number of servant under them that they teach in the craft of pottery.

7

Sailor. A sailor and traveler, who has their own ship and renders service to those who need it, although sometimes to those that pay the highest.

8

Honey Tracker. A freeman who is skilled in travelling the forests and foraging through foliage to find the best bee hives to harvest honey from.

9

Cook. A cook who owns their own eatery, in service to the Datu. They usually have a number of servant and children that help them in the kitchen, making meals for the Datu themselves. Larger settlements might have cooks that can cook for the entire Kadungganan or noble population.

10

Fisher. An integral trade in archipelago. A skilled fisher who uses harpoons, nets, and traps to capture large amounts of fish, which they then cook or trade.

11

Paraawit. A professional singer, hired to sing epics in feasts, dirges in funerals, or inspiring war songs when going into war.

12

Shipbuilder. A freeman who owns their own shipyard and has their own horohan to help collect materials and help build the ships themselves.

328

DIVINATIONS

Debtor There are three kinds of debtors in The Sword Isles: the peasants, the servants, and the infantry. When these debtors are raided, they are usually taken away and brought to markets, where their obligation and labor is sold to others that wish to take them on. As labor is a premium in the Sword Isles, with their being a surplus of natural resources and not enough labor to capitalize on it, debtor obligations are usually priced similar to bahandi. When they are bought, they usually become servants for the one that bought them, sometimes peasants if the buyer deem it so. Enterprising and mercantile capitalists sell debtors at a profit. More commonly, when a datu raids a settlement, they take in the debtors of that settlement and turn them into debtors to the datu instead. Debtors make up the majority of the The Sword Isles population. Becoming a debtor is easy: accrue enough debt through your actions, enough that you cannot pay it off, then you will become a debtor to that person that you owe the most. This will then extend to your next of kin, until one of them can eventually pay off your debt price, and free your family and generational line. Peasants Peasants render their service up to the datu, most usually working in their field, fishing, hunting, or what else. Peasants have their own houses, and they render a portion of their labor and work to their datu, whom they owe their debt to. Through opportunity and enterprise, they can decrease their debt, and eventually pay it off in full. When raiders come to their village, they are expected to take up arms and fight alongside the datu. Peasants are different from servants in that they live in their own houses while tilling the fields of the datu, in exchange for the datu’s protection and strength in being a settlement.

Servant Dispositions 1

A disenfranchised servant who is tired of working for their master.

2

A beautiful servant who is in an ilicit love affair with their master.

3

A servant who harbors a deep hatred for the one that their master serves.

4

A servant who is wholly committed to their master until their death.

5

A servant who would want to become free and pursue a different trade, but cannot due to their love for their master.

6

A servant who seeks restitution for something their master has done to them.

Peasant Dispositions 1

A peasant constantly unimpressed by sorcery and war, simply annoyed that it gets in the way of their weaving.

2

A peasant who likes farming way too much, and is devising multiple technology to help it along.

3

A peasant who tills lands so large that they have to deal with another settlement hogging up too much of the space.

4

A peasant who walks around drunk all the time, but is still surprisingly competent.

5

A peasant who is in a secret love affair with a servant.

6

A peasant who works all day in the fields but crafts poetry at night, under the light of a small candle.

Servants Servants live in their master’s houses, and any person can have a servant, even other servants (thus making them the lowest rung of the Debtor Class). Servants are not to be traded away and must be treated well, lest you become a bad master, as tradition dictates. They must be fed and given clothing by the masters. Masters dictate when a servant can marry and sometimes even who they can marry. The servant’s children inherit their class until they can pay off the debt price. Servants render all their labor to their master, and they live in their master’s house. Should they give birth, the master is expected to take care of the servant’s child as if it were their own. A master may even have a favorite servant, who act similarly as retainers, which they call their sibin. Infantry Infantry serve as footsoldiers for the master they serve, oftentimes working as a personal guard as well. Their masters train them and equip them, Infantry usually have similar tasks and functions to squires: helping their masters when it comes to combat, maintaining their weapons, and more.

Infantry Dispositions 1

An infantry who is born into war and fighting, always looking for the next fight.

2

An infantry who sees fighting and combat as their duty and nothing else, and they aim to be the best at it.

3

An infantry that loves their master, and will do anything to protect them.

4

An infantry who abhors fighting, and only does it because they are ordered to, but is scarily good at fighting.

5

An infantry filled with hatred and a longing for justice, and wishes to depose datu and cast down false thrones.

6

An infantry brimming with a hard knowledge of truth, and wishes to document all things they must witness in war to make sure future generations do not witness and suffer their mistakes.

329

DIVINATIONS

Character Conviction

Character Wants & Ruminations

Use this divination if you need to find the principle for a particular character, something they hold dearest, the thing they use their conviction upon. Roll a d100.

Use this divination if you need to find either a Want or a Rumination, or both, of a particular character. The results here can be interpreted either way. Roll a d100.

1-4 5-8 9-12 13-16 17-20 21-24 25-28 29-32 33-36 37-40 41-44 45-48 49-52 53-56 57-60 61-64 65-68 69-72 73-76 78-80 81-84 85-88 89-92 93-96 97-100

1-2

Curiosity Duty Honor Valor Wealth Power Peace Love Bonds Protection Safety Justice Violence Honesty Redemption Revenge Vengeance Comfort Power Loyalty Martyrdom Piety Fealty Salvation Annihilation

Find something important Create an agreement Build a relationship Destroy a relationship Create something worthwhile Perform something heartrending Achieve enlightenment

51-52

Collect a debt

53-54

Spread a faith

55-56

Find rest

57-58

Find love

59-60

Get to somewhere special Climb the social ladder

Protect someone special Provide for someone Make sure someone never hurts again Fulfill a duty given

65-66

Get something they want, which is dangerous Destroy obstacles

67-68

Keep the status quo

69-70

Upend the status quo

71-72

Kill gods

73-74

25-26 27-28

Escape a duty given Transcend chains Seize power

29-30 31-32 33-34

Destroy the weak Remove tyrants Prove innocence

79-80 81-82 83-84

35-36

Prove bravery

85-86

37-38 39-40

Pass a ritual 87-88 Become something 89-90 better

41-42

Become something 91-92 worse Gain knowledge 93-94

Protect something important Protect a place Violently seize something Prove worth Become redeemed Find where they belong Find who they truly are Uncover a conspiracy Keep a secret from falling into the wrong hands Steal someone

3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 13-14 15-16 17-18 19-20 21-22 23-34

43-44 45-46 47-48 49-50

330

Escape from responsibility Become a god Enact vengeance on something

61-62 63-64

75-76 77-78

95-96 97-98 99-100

Take something from someone Heal a relationship Create a better place Secure sundries and provisions

DIVINATIONS

Seeds 1.

A datu seeks your help in raiding the shores of Baik Hu to win the heart of the princess Humangsanun of the settlement Ukab.

2.

A Daknunuk, a great and giant pagoda temple-tree, of which there are four all in all in the entire Archipelago seemingly protecting the spiritual integrity of the Archipelago, is being attacked by either foreign forces or by another faction.

3.

A Lakanate settlement is harvesting resources from a forest. The Datu of the settlement is preparing to slay the diwata of the forest to be able to harvest as much resources as possible.

4.

A stone taotao filled wherein a diwata of war is depicted is being hunted down by those that would use it to destroy one of their enemies, disrupting natural harmony.

5.

An elder Kadanay, one of the ancient peoples that are skilled in grand wonders of spiritual artifice and technology, has come to your settlement for aid against a coming storm of Yawa, brought upon by an injustice performed at sea.

6.

The settlement you are in is struck by magalo, strange and chaotic fey creatures from beyond the Borders of the World, that seek to destroy Gubat Banwa as we know it. You must fight them back and find a way to prevent it from happening again.

7.

A confederation Datu has been killed by a diwata gone wild. You must find out why.

8.

In the Archipelago, mountains are considered to be holy temples where gods and other spirits live. One certain mountain has been found to have their trees slowly dying, and you must go to find out what had happened.

9.

You must escort an esteemed noble lady on her pilgrimage across the Sea to reach the Daknunuk of Mount Sakatun, in the eastern island facing the Sea of Broken Dragons. Rajahnate and Lakanate forces have come begun conflict.

10. A Sultanate Datu conscripts your help in raiding a Lakanate settlement, to disrupt trade or military technology. 11. A Lakanate Datu conscripts your help in raiding a Sultanate settlement to weaken their enlarging hold. 12. A Rajahnate Merchant Prince Datu asks for your help in pacifying a Sultanate and a Lakanate settlement that is proving to be a nuisance for trade routes with foreign countries. 13. A Datu asks you to be his vassals and retainers and bring a message to an upcoming feast in his stead. The message is a dangerous one written in palm leaf manuscript and cannot be opened. It is a statement of intention of raiding for blaspheming the former Datu's name. 14. A datu requests your help in traveling up a mountain in Rusunuga to raid a city upon a hill, which killed their child. This revenge raid will need the players to travel upriver deeper into Rusunuga, the largest of the islands. 15. A young lady, perhaps the wife of a Datu, seeks your help in undergoing a spiritual pilgrimage to a Dakbalete, a Strangler Fig Temple-Tree. This is so that the child in her womb can be blessed. They will later find out that the woman is not pregnant at all. 16. A yawa outbreak has happened somewhere near the current location of the Kadungganan. They must seek out the cause, usually some sort of human sin or atrocity. 17. A settlement has called for a raid on another settlement, and both settlement call to the player Kadungganan for help. It is up to the Kadungganan whom they will serve or protect. 18. Your Datu asks you to go to a foreign island or land, whether it be Baik Hu or Naksuwarga or the Madaki Peninsula, to establish trade so that the settlement can grow richer. (Feel free to pull from other modules and adventures for this.) 19. A Rajahnate princess is abducted by a Kadungganan who seeks to sow discord against the Rajahnate, to destabilize the current Rajah, Batara Ambasi, and usurp the throne, replacing it with a lordship of peasant, wherein those that work will be the ones ruling over those that don't. 20. An elder Confederation settlement where sea snakes are worn like bracelets and giant crab shells are worn like breastplates seeks help retrieving a lost cache of Issohappan purawdust, which has adverse affects on nature around it. 21. A rumored ancient balete temple tree has been invaded by a sole Pale King conquistador. Rumors say that the conquistador feasts on unnatural purawdust, and is no longer a living person, but one death cannot claim. 22. An old Baikhan detachment is anchored on the shores of a sea settlement, planning on claiming that settlement as part of Baik Hu’s hegemony.

331

DIVINATIONS 23. A Baikhan warlord has arrived in the shores of a Rajahnate settlement in full armor, and has announced that it the Baikhan Invasion begins there. That island becomes the first wall against Baik Hu invasion. 24. A polity in a far off island filled with a settlement populated by elephants that worship the moon goddess Baginda Sumongsuklay. They re being hunted down by the Sultanate for their gold and hide. 25. On the base of the great mountain Darungdungan, a small village of smallfolk live, nature imps and sprites that are enchanted beings. They worship Harisabokid, the King of Darungdungan, and they now ask for help, as they presume Harisabokid is dead, and one of the twelve major polities killed him. 26. A dakbalayligo sa diwata, the spirit bathhouse, has arrived, and the Kadungganan are sucked into them. They must find a way back, lest the dakbalay sa liguan disappear on the next new moon into the depths of Sulad. 27. There is an outbreak of yawa somewhere near a holy site. Diwata war with the yawa there. Neither of them are at fault, rumors say. 28. A Lakanate contingent of blasphemous Kadungganan have appeared in the Confederation settlement known as Latika, which is known for its great resources in manpower and being stationed upon the mountain of Namigawal, a holy mountain. They have arrived to stew political unrest and to force a war with a Lakanate settlement for means currently unknown. 29. 12 Bishops from the Lakanate Clergy have begun to move their personal Kadungganan ranks, with one of them coming directly for your own personal settlement. Rumors and whispers of “The 12 Riders of the Stars” abound. 30. War broils, it has ever been. A young and peaceful settlement, who have done nothing but enjoy their life beside hot springs and follow the Mouse Deer God Pilandok deep into the island of Baliga, is under the threat of attack by a Sultanate force. 31. Ten Datu have arrived from the far north, bringing with them the goal to colonize the island of Tan’ai. There is resistance from the native datu. You must choose a side. 32. A young servant comes to you, low and meek, hoping for your help in seeking out their father, who was lost in a recent raid to a far western island of Saffuri. Things are more than they seem, of course. 33. You are invited to be retainers to a noble who must go to a feast packed with high ranking nobles. You are expected to act as a fluffer for the noble, and navigate a complex web of politics to get out of the feast alive. 34. A distant island that disappears in the horizon. When it comes closer, it is obvious that this is not an island, but rather, a giant floating crab with a shell so large that an entire coral ecosystem has developed on its back. There is a settlement of siyokoy, fish men, that live on the back. 35. A horde of magalo, those strange and inscrutable beings from past the borders of the world, have infiltrated settlements at the edge of the archipelago. They walk among you like any other creature, but wield terrible powers and earn the ire of any natural spirit within their vicinity. 36. A powerful city state, large and encompassing two islands in its size, is seized by the political enemy of the current Datu, out for the head of its life. In the midst of the turmoil and excitement, the Datu is killed during a feast showcasing their bahandi heirloom wealth in a parade. The last surviving members of the Datu’s kawal, or personal guard, approach the Kadungganan for help. 37. Sea ghosts lure boats out to sea and they are consumed by the giant sea spider god that lives underneath a giant stone, flat and smooth. Upon it are spider folk that worship the mountain underneath the stone. Seek them out and find out why they lure poor unsuspecting travelers out to sea. 38. There is an island of ill omen, Mantiwan, the Island of Apparitions and Specters. White shades walk upon its shores, upon its accursed mountain, but whenever someone gets too close, their boats are destroyed, or they begin to see hordes and hordes of pale specters watching them from afar, with eyes of the gods. There is a settlement here, they say, that belongs to the Kadanay. All datu avoid it, for it is indeed an island of ill luck. 39. Eight shrines to eight powerful balete trees, each one filled with resonance to the spirit word, have begun to call upon for the Shrine Ritual, seeking Kadungganan and balyan far and wide to perform the rites and tasks. A new god arises from the depths or screeches from the skies, ascending to seize and devour the sun and moon. 40. A small settlement in a quaint river valley needs you to help collecting coconuts in a far off plantation, or to kill a raging monster.

332

DIVINATIONS

NPCs Here is a short list of potential characters and personalities that the Kadungganan might meet during their travels. Choose one. 1.

Dimatablan. A powerful woman who wears nothing but her bahag and strength, and an agimat that lets bullets ricochet from her. She likes mamun and sweetened gabi (root crop), and dislikes Baikhan tea.

2.

Pumapagwis. A smart kid noble kid who wears the trappings of royalty. While he is blind, he sees through his superior hearing, allowing him to scope out the battlefield even before a war breaks out. He is known as the Eyeless Warsage, and is known to enjoy very trivial luxuries, such as honey tea and sugar cakes.

3.

Sree Matamata. A rich tactician who has mastered Warspeaking, but loves sleeping too much to be a true asset to any war effort. Loves and revels in pleasure and comfort.

with the spirits and has made a penchant for solving problems with ghosts and diwata alike. 10. Amedi. A young and plucky thief who is faster than her own shadow. In truth she is aswang, which shows when one looks at her shadow, which reveals that she has a set of invisible horns. Whenever she shapeshifts into a cat or into her asuwang monstrous form, she turns into a feline horned creature. She has a penchant for shiny things, and loves stealing from nobles and other rich creatures. She strives one day to steal the crown from Baik Hu's August Jade Emperor one day, but she's content with just stealing the ruby eye of Yarashgara XII. She likes noodles and rice cakes, while she hates plain white rice and the gluttonously rich. 11. Agay. A strong headed woman with a competitive streak and a skilled blacksmith. In battle, she brings a war palo, and bashes heads in as good as she smites the heated rods. She has a penchant for pretty women, and can get distracted by them.

4.

Putli Magara. The beautiful pink-haired princess of Banwa Liyaga, southwest of the great Lake Pulilan, which has adopted Sampalataya, and worships Madiyah of the Stone. Well versed in the ways of her own people, but is a clean freak. Has mastered the empty hand art of the Heavenspear due to her mother, but she wishes to escape Banwa Liyaga as the people are starting to piss her off. Wishes to live in Ba-e. Quick to anger but loves deeply. Very emotional. Loves eating but hates getting fat.

12. Kasandra. A bayani of the Lakanate. Fervent in her dedication to her Datu, Datu Luksin, she fights clad in her silk cloak and heavy elephant hide armor. Her skill with the sibat is unparalleled, and she wears her bayani upbringing with pride. Her long straight hair betrays her attention to discipline, and her ability to name all her spear techniques reveals her meticulousness when it comes to her training. Despite this, her loyalty to her skill in combat has left a hole in her social ability, especially with those of the lower social classes, who do not follow the same Golden Web Tapestry social protocol that nobles tread.

5.

Faengal. An elderly kindly man who has mastered the art of making betel nut quid, making intricate chews that look like lotuses, flowers, and other things. His life is fading away before him due to a liver-eater spirit. Wishes to die by the base of dakilang Mount Apu Dayawa.

13. Puksawan Yumi. A timawa of Datu Kalaw, a royal vassal and retainer. He is known as the Flower Moon, as his beauty exceeds even those of the most beautiful women dayang. It is said that Datu Kalaw has a romantic relationship with him.

6.

Dapiot. A kalabaw kshatriya who wields a kampilan and a kalasag. She fights fiercely for her Datu, and is in love with the Datu's binukot. She enjoys the sound of the nose flute, and is known to be particularly good in song and melody, but not in poetry. She likes long walks by the shore but dislikes the morning.

7.

Kubera sa Bulalakaw. The eternal 12 harvest old girl who was blessed by the Langitnon and turned into a Diwata of Comets. She is well versed in combat and is known for having fire feet that lets her fly. She holds the trinity of Ancient Comet Weapons: Lontok the Earth Pestle, Wariwari the Sea Spear, and Inikara the Sword Streaking Across the Day Sky.

14. Harakay. A wind diwata who is known to transform into a binturong-crocodile, or a dragon. He is a zealous Sentinel of his domain, and will take it personally if someone blasphemes his name or those within his domain. He is likely to be found near the base of mountains, where the wind howls through caves. In his human form, he is a beautiful young man, who can be taken for a woman, until he shows his true form. He fights with quick spirit prayers and leaf blades.

8.

9.

Masirum. A pandita monk found in ancient tombs, guarding a horrible secret: a gate to the deepest parts of Sulad, where legions of the Earthbound Aswang are kept. He, an aswang himself: a Gabunan, an elder aswang. The tomb is the tomb of the ancient HexerDatu Buyung Parangkuton, and it is packed with ancient artifacts. Maningning. A young adolescent girl who is also Daitan, her daitan friend being a powerful spirit named Kaimito. She is mostly shy and awkward, even if she wants to make friends, and she is further ostracized due to her being a daitan. Kaimito constantly eggs her on and encourages her to make more friends. As a daitan, even without formal balyan training, she can converse

15. Biyento Rekno. One of the princes of the Batara Lakan, the king of the Lakanate. He is a man seemingly hellbent on his job, on acquiring what he needs. He is heavily armored and garbed, in regal Baikhan silvers and native gold. He's doing this so that he can convince his father to let him go on a trading mission to Baik Hu, wherein his beloved lives in the capital of Baik Hu, Zhong Ku. 16. Nia Hibii. A balyan that wears armor and goes on ventures with her Datu in an attempt to speak to as many spirits as she can. Nia loves collecting little items as well, and she always carries a rattan bag with her. Her balay back in her home settlement of Bakim is filled with items that she has collected from her travels. She is protective of her datu, and loves nature far more than she can care for, even moreso than her datu. She loves calamansi juice and fragrant flowers, and hates the tea from Baik Hu and porcelain jars.

333

DIVINATIONS 17. Simamari. A pandita who always carries around palm leaf manuscripts and bamboo scrolls. These he writes upon, taking stock of all the new things that he sees. He chronicles them back home, writing them upon imperishable copperplate inscriptions. He does this to expand the knowledge of the Sultanate. He loves writing and songs, but hates sweet food. 18. Datu Ragyan Amamira. A fun-loving and courageous Datu, who has a penchant for being deceitful to accomplish his goals, but only his goals. He stays true with everything else. This does not help him, however. He fights with a bladed yo-yo, and he strikes with a quick blade. Many call him the Monkey Lord, for his fighting style and trickery. His settlement still loves him of course, and the Datu is committed to making sure his settlement is rich and well protected, against even the Batara Lakan and the Mahapari himself. He loves spicy food and women, but hates men also. 19. Parawali Kusa Paladha. A no nonsense parawali who fights with a hardwood staff. He always wears a shawl and long-sleeved baro, keeping almost his entire body save for his head unexposed. His face is almost always in a constant frown, but he cares for his settlement and is willing to consort with Yawa to do this. Kusa is devoted to his settlement to a fault. He loves warrior epics and learning new things, and he hates having to sing and perform poetry in front of an audience. 20. Dimatablang Dayang Kalis. A powerful noble lady that has now escaped and is traveling the isles in search for adventure and violence. She is well adjusted to war, and chooses not to kill if she can help it. Her chosen weapon is a giant kris the length of her body, which she has called Kilat, the lightning bolt. She loves eating but hates seafood.

Quirks Use this divination to make even more unique characters by finding out what quirks they might have, special to the Sword Isles. Roll a d100. 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 13-14

15-16 17-18

Has a barge prow for a head Sits on a floating broadrimmed hat Swathed in spirit idols Has a crimson gem on their brow Has wild bulging eyes like a vengeful god Has an extra set of arms Carries around a bejeweled dagger Is run through with a phantom sword Has an artificial arm made of jade

45-46

Has hair or eyes the color of the moon Has a giant sword that they drag everywhere Has a spear they don’t know how to wield Has a giant lantaka tied to their back Walks around with three babies hanging from body cloth Wears a court dancer demon mask Has chains around their ankles Wears a crown with a halo behind it Travels with their apprentice, who carries their smith’s workshop Has iridescent fishes hanging from their waist at all times Wears bird of paradise tail feather Walks around with a censer Has grayed eyes and can only see through spirit Can see the unseen

47-48

Has only one hand

49-50

Perpetually carries a beautifully carved clay jar filled with something balanced on their head

19-20 21-22 23-34 25-26 27-28

29-30 31-32 33-34 35-36

37-38

39-40 41-42 43-44

334

51-52 53-54 55-56 57-58 59-60 61-62 63-64

65-66 67-68

69-70 71-72 73-74 75-76 77-78

79-80 81-82 83-84

Cannot be killed, their heart is within a different animal Babbles in an indecipherable language Has long hair that covers their eyes Is blind, sees through Nihawa Carries a weapon that they treat like their lover Obsessed with honor Is actually a kinnari in disguise, a celestial half-bird, musicians of the celestial mountains Is being stalked by a fierce demon Is addicted to various spices and concoctions in a search for the immortality elixir Is overly zealous about the ancestors Decked out in too many magical amulets Mute to folk, but animals can understand them Obsessed with numbers and scales Has died once before, something marks their trauma Has a face behind their head Has spiders crawling up and down a mechanical spine Has a centipede for a spine

85-86

Has the eyes of a serpent, strangely aloof

87-88

Speaks solely in traditional island songs

89-90 91-92

Speaks solely in cryptic mantras and sutras Has azure skin like the sky

93-94

Doesn’t have a shadow

95-96

Winces at a particular common word Has a serpent coiled around their wrist Remembers their past life

97-98 99-100

DIVINATIONS

335

DIVINATIONS

Name Generator Choose the closest culture and then roll a d100. Can be used for folk, for places, for swords, for cities, for rituals. Commonly can use two or more words for one name. Gatusan 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Humasanun Sialu Alho Basig Bansag Makusog Padulong Ligida Paskan Pana Pusil Sapang Hagiban Badung Kamuning Kanduwali Sagpong Bugto Pasan Tindak Umindig Alimpulos Mangal Bauga Matang Mataunas Kilat Langit Biyanti Buli Ba-at Tabugok Alamag Lusay Kagut Sangkil Bangkilan Suga Sidlak Dan-ag Silaw Sam-id Pintas Bagsik Bangut Isug Bangis Hanuy Usasawa Sawa Alangilan

Ba-e 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Bulak Gawaygaway Gikutlu Malarag Lawi Nasampil Tanaman Halas Agwasun Dughu Tangkig Bugu Kasbu Tulabung Lapay Akasya Alipata Bay-ang Bito-on Adlawa Bulan Bungahuy Duldol Nunuka Sagapas Bulaw Hagupit Bughaw Antulanga Lagum Amyon Taragman Dagaang Arum Lagtom Lunghaw Alimbuyug Ilom Bulagis Anunugba Putli Pilakan Hingilin Dugwak Baha Matinamdanun Muog Maatang Mangan Atay Ambuhotan

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

336

Kalma Indr Sakra Kiling Sasaban Magayon Urduya Angkatan Buka Jayadewa Namwaran Dula Panginoan Balagtas Sapa Alat Pahit Malyag Lat Matanda Magara Mekana Chanai Humasanun Daragat Masawang Angintabo Pamir Acana Vajr Vlitr Champaka Siwa Wisnu Nagar Rudravar Vahi Musa Paramusang Alamid Harimau Tagum Bakaw Garsa Kandanggaok Tagak Pakal Pagsisi Lawin Maragit

51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Laho Kedo Tandayag Yuta Lihan Bajinong Liyin Gatchalian Magalang Mayumi Yumi Dangal Igi Kawagasan Gan Masagana Sakuna Saguna Awa Bandahali Dawani Gunita Gadya Durg Kawa Ladya Laxaman Magha Narangha Parikala Panata Palakol Puksa Rah Salanta Sampaga Simha Sutra Sangyawa Tanikala Tumbaga Yoni Yoga Tadhan Yuta Walna Ubaya Wika Sajja Mutya

DIVINATIONS Apumbukid 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Tayabak Nia Hibii Gumamela Waling Antinga Wadiya Wanowan Wasay Bulak Bunga Jamba Sajang Favija Vafengal Fengev Vuwa Fiwu Vao Faganay Vagaw Pakat Fakatowa Pakatekatekaw Tekav Paksina Falagawad Falagatan Falas Valenggen Falivay Famenggang Pandara Megak Gaingking Gepae Agus Gebii Sugu Zukag Qairombidariya Kaiposa Kairon Kailaw Lamagole Kaoley Lamang Langogan Layon Likeg

Akai 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Kakowint Qalantim Fikoway Ngen Nggalofiteng Qalam Ngirong Ngiri Anda-i Angora Fandaman Dabig Dabodabos Dadaliyan Qaregan Dangat Valatigal Valawag Vwarongis Ami Gukon Rsani Vatara Vatari Defa Defi Vatuk Kapala Iyug Vika Vataraka Arani Rakan Yug Fuwokan Kuluyug Vani Faruna Indu Awigan Liyokesin Qar-i Fili Folor Inamcha Duga Uvug Loknen Qemi Viri

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

337

Qalif Patima Idda Jamba Betawin Joho Lukun Ispara Puddang Puhan Baykaskas Simpung Kadjang Taming Kalari Israpil Sangkakala Jibrail Katibin Kiraman Ajinn Malaikat Layla Maliyah Maia Malak Isa Sayta Hipanyata Sada Anunghara Jikil Kalam Hakim Kursi Nimat Sabal Tulun Tuhan Istigapar Istinggar Minta Paaras Barakat Ganda Haddarat Ilyas Inji Jabr Kalabbiya

51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Tinggi Mulka Rijiki Kudar Nabi Pahala Rahmat Siksa Sakut Subali Sujud Taat Maliket Madika Miriam Ahmad Arif Ajij Chahai Fadhlan Harta Ismaya Joyo Praman Susila Vikal Ananda Farah Anisa Nurul Abdilla Ladin Ali Esmael Fairodz Fahad Johari Kahar Latipa Lucman Maimona Meriam Misuari Mokamed Naima Nasrudin Nhor Nhora Rahim/a Zulaika

DIVINATIONS Virbanwan 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Ysayle Ystinia Mary Yfraim Regina Jomarque Raimundo Anjyll Danil Althya Soffya Andrya Samanta Lyxa Mariyan Ylisabeth Risel Korazon Dulurusa Ylisa Dibina Gloria Imelda Ymil Marikar Victor Emmanuel Benigno Enrique Ferdin Hasinto Duwarte Dyon Hoseh Marcus Pavlo Ramon Constantancia Concepcion Alvaro Baschan Alehandr Khlara Cladiah Conxita Kruz Doulcea Ylena Ysparanze Ysidor

Settlement Generator 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Yrnesto Huwan Gilberto Roxalinda Lowis Vyrnando Pransisko Basco Abel Laksandr Carlus Yrmis Sancho Huwancho Patentia Abundio Ada Adan Orhe Dyovit Huwana Justu Kiko Kilyan Laurentina Leocadya Lorynza Luhan Luna Solarana Luz Guadalupe Maikel Magdalena Marciano Nepumoceno Mateo Maximiano Mayra Nilo Niyebe Olvido Paloma Pelayu Hosep Perla Petra Pedro Prudencia Quirino

Use this to generate a settlement. A settlement has three parts: location, size, and culture. Location (d6) 1 Hinterlands 2 High Mountain 3 Shore

4 5 6

Upriver Cavern Sea

Size (d6) 1 Small Settlement, a few neighborhoods. Ruled by an elder usually, or a powerful warrior. 2 A village, settlements clumped together. Ruled by a warrior or a chief. 3 A town of a few settlements running up and down the shore or the river. Has a single trade they’re known for. Ruled by a chief or a prince. 4 A fortress city. A large number of neighborhoods intertwining around a single stone fortress. Called a kota commonly. Ruled by a warrior-prince, a chief, or a warlord. 5 A port city. A large number of settlements that stretch from the port to well upriver. One of the larger possible settlements in Gubat Banwa. Well versed in multiple trades, has multiple chiefs, ruled over by kings. Important for controlling trade. 6 A capital. Densely populated urban complexes, where god-kings build temples and the like. Can belong to any of the greater kingdoms or mandalas. Has a monopoly on violence. Might have an army, usually very rich. Ruled by kings. Culture (d10) 1-2 Religious and pious. Dedicated to harmony with nature, or perhaps dedicated to making sure that the rituals are properly kept so that they do not incur the ire of the gods. Has houses with dragon heads, spirit houses with stories of folk heroes carved into the reliefs, still and silent ponds, flower-choked rivers, stone palaces. Warriors here are militant monks, training to perfect their bodies. 3-4 Warring and raiding. Large stilt houses that can be moved with the shifting swiddens. Nobles get rich and large longhouses built upon pillars. Houses adorned in gold and palm leaf art. Boats underneath houses, ready to go all the time. Training sites for warriors. Warriors here seek glory. 5-6 Noble and mercantile. A popular port for foreign trade. Depends on both international and domestic goods. Has a large number of mixed religions. Large temples and stupas mixed with alabaster mosques and natural tree altars. Warriors employed to protect goods. Sampans, junks, karakoas choke the port. 7-8 Quiet and seemly. Deep in the mountains, or hidden away in a cove. A peaceful life. A terrible secret. Simple steep stilt houses, hornbill flanges on the roofs. Dragon houses are palaces. Houses connected together to make complexes of castles. Warriors protect the peace and enjoy drink. 9-10 Nomadic, hunting, free. Easily removed houses. Stilt houses that pierce deep into the sea. Pearls as exports, rich chiefs, swordfish mounts. Genius inventors that make fishing nets and harpoons and tridents. Hunters breed dogs and dragons and hawks to hunt larger prey. Warriors here work as both priest and hunter: protecting nature and receiving its bountiful blessings.

338

DIVINATIONS

339

The Sword Isles

340

The Sword Isles

VI: The Sword Isles

341

The Sword Isles

Open World Play In the Sword Isles

Solo Play will most likely be conducted in open world play. When you start a Solo Kandu, find out in your Kadungganan’s background, or perhaps choose for them, where they might start. Each Region will have 12 Events each, to make each region unique.

How To Use This Section This section will lay out the ten major regions of the Sword Isles. Use these when traveling through a particular region to generate events and perhaps meet people. Roll on the Events when looking for what happens next, when you find a golden opportunity, or if you’re travelling across that region. Events must follow from the fiction, so if what you rolled makes no sense, simply reroll. The regions are as follows: The Graveyard of the Winds, Tauhaw, Barrier of Panlinugon, Pannai, Khadnala Sword Shards, Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows, The Footsteps of the Gods, The Isles of Rajakami, North and South Rusunuga. When having to randomize regions, you can roll a d10. 1.

The Graveyard of the Winds

2.

Tauhaw

3.

Barrier of Panlinugon

4.

Pannai

5.

Khadnala Sword Shards

6.

Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows

7.

The Footsteps of the Gods

8.

The Isles of Rajakami

9.

Northern Rusunuga

10. Southern Rusunuga

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The Sword Isles

North Rusunuga The largest island in the Sword Isles, it is almost always in constant conflict between the contesting nations within the island. Land warfare is more common here than the rest of the isles, and so are large plains and silt fields. The Island of Rusunuga is commonly trading with the grand Hegemony of Baik Hu, facilitating intense cultural and material exchange. The island is covered with vast mountain ranges and beautiful plateaus, as well as giant lakes and yawning caves.

d12

Events

1

A traveling Imperial regiment, led by a single general. They are leading a chariot filled with important war resources. It is guarded by an enslaved angel. There are Apumbukid ambushers somewhere nearby.

2

You meet a Ba-enon monk, who walks with a vajra-bell and a monkstaff. Preaches the word of the Annuvar Buddha. Emanates compassion, will not fight unless forced to. On the way to the city of Ba-e.

3

You meet a handsome devil. Calls themself Luzbel. Not a Pale King, but has platinum hair and azure eyes. Fickle. They are surrounded by dead angels. He is on the way to meet a Ba-enon warrior-priest.

4

You come across an opium den. It is owned by a giant cat spirit, who emanates laziness and intoxication. Harmless, really, the giant cat is close to Glory. An Apumbukid warrior is conversing with the cat, seemingly trying to persuade them into something.

5

An imperial Virbanwan regiment surrounding a giant metal war-suit, traveling trails blazed. The metal war suit is special and expensive to create. There is a Ba-enon monk in the way.

6

You meet a traveling mendicant, who asks for alms. Is actually the Violent Bodhisattva, and everyone knows it, including himself. He is traveling toward a Virbanwan iron village by a lake, where they have begun to kill river gods.

7

Giant crocodiles dance with giant naga across the skies. They dip and dive around clouds before sinking into the sea or the river. Somewhere nearby, a Virbanwan scholar is trying to draw them onto palm leaf.

8

You find a displaced Ba-e settlement, hiding deep in the woods. They have been pushed out of their village by Virbanwan warriors: a Warband of Kadungganan that is similar to your own.

9

A Ba-enon merchant fleet is running from a Virbanwan warrior ship. Will ask for your help, somehow.

10

Baikhan merchants arrive by the shore, will immediately trade with the Kadungganan. Near the end of the scene, Virbanwans and Ba-enon warriors will converge on the position.

11

Ba-enon warrior-priests are locked in combat with demons and ghosts. If not helped, they will die. If helped, they can grant access to important Ba-enon temples, filled with Ashinin-Annuvaran-Anitu teachings.

12

A Thundering Lightning Datu is breaking the sky overhead, fighting with a powerful Virbanwan Heneral who wields the earth. Roll a d6. On a 1-3, the Thundering Datu falls somewhere nearby. On a 4-6, the Virbanwan Heneral falls somewhere nearby as well. The fighting will converge soon where they landed.

343

The Sword Isles

South Rusunuga The bladed tip of the Sword Isles. Many merchants from Iyamat, the Longbow Archipelago and Baik Hu can be found here. The greatest volcanoes and mountain ranges can be found here, and powerful mountain kingdoms permeate this area. This is where Vuyu, Sinuku, Asinan, and Kabuluan use the natural formations to create stone protections against Virbanwan assaults. Sinuku in particular is almost as powerful as Ba-e, though they gain most of their riches through fighting as mercenaries in Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows.

d12

Events

1

Kabuluan warriors travelling carrying bulu bamboo. They are fierce warriors but carry a porcelain jarlet filled with alcohol. Very friendly, hostile against Virbanwans.

2

Sinuku warriors on their pilgrimage to Mount Alaya, where the great God Aring Sinukuan lives. They will entertain travelers and passerbys, but they will kill those that stand in their way. Sinuku warriors are similar to Ba-enon, but they are deeper inculcated in Ashinin faith, and believe in Lawu the Firebird that Swallows the Sun.

3

Asinan fighters clad in silken robes that resemble hanfu, wielding katanas and daos. Probably on a river or walking, or riding upon horses or tigers. They are on the way to their datu, or perhaps on the way home.

4

Virbanwan warriors are fending off Vuyu guerrillas. The Vuyu guerillas are winning, but the Virbanwans has reincorcements on the way.

5

A spirit shrine in the way. There are idols that look like boars. A statue of Deva Gan, the god of knowledge and journeys.

6

Traveling blacksmiths on the way. They offer you weapons, perhaps an Anting-Anting. But they will ask for something in return (often pieces of cast iron or silver).

7

The earth quakes, and an incarnation of the god Aring Sinukuan arrives before you. He will ask you to kill someone, probably someone from Ba-e.

8

Ba-enon monks are sitting on a cliff by the sea with Asinan shamans and Vuyu warriors. They are talking about the nature of Glory.

9

The last practitioner of a lost martial art, a datu, is being attacked by an enemy settlement. Who do you help?

10

Iyamat merchants, looking for deerskins and clay pots in exchange for tea and swords. Their clothing is silk, looking like fascimiles of giant moths, beetles, and grasshoppers. Iyamat insect gods are common.

11

Little gods arrive, happy and thriving. They will ask for something. If not given, they will get angry and inflict violence.

12

Iyamat pirates launch an attack at you, they are skilled warriors wielding cannons, arquebuses, and katanas. They mistake your warband for a traveling Asinan trading band.

344

The Sword Isles

Footsteps of the Gods The handle and the tassels of the sword that the God used to pierce Gubat Banwa. Here the most powerful mandala is the Sultanate of Akai, and the Sultana holds almost every leader and king within this region in thrall. The Footsteps of the Gods is the land of beautiful cinnamon, extravagant flower islands, and burgeoning mountains. The center of Gubat Banwa and the trichiliocosm, the Mountain of Apu, can be found in the island of Kalanawan, the largest island in the Footsteps of the Gods. The Confederation of Apumbukid holds a large amount of power here as well.

d12

Events

1

You meet Lunate Knights on the path. They stop you and ask why you’re traveling. Hostile against outsiders unless given a gift.

2

In the great island of Kalanawan, by the cold and lonely lake, there is a great hero-sage who now lives in a cottage by the Lake Lanaw. He speaks and sings of Glory and greatness. If this is the first time the warriors meet this hero-sage, they rise in Legend immediately.

3

You meet ritual warriors on the way to perform ritual killing to a nearby settlement. The rivers choke their path.

4

A giant whale leaps into view. Those well-versed in gods will know that this is Kedu, the Whale That Will Swallow The Light Moon.

5

You meet one of the handsome and beautiful Lunar Princes/Princesses of the Sultana. These royals travel across the isles with a coterie of viziers, vassals, and retainer-knights. Will ignore you unless you’re interesting.

6

You find ruins of an ancient city. The architecture reveals dragons and buddhas. Nearby, there are Lunar Zealots that are setting up to destroy the architecture as it is blasphemous against Goddess.

7

Dagindaran janissaries are waging war with Apumbukid braves nearby. The fighting continues deep into Kalanawan. There are warriors of Akai fighting on both sides.

8

A jinn (spirit) speaks with you from within the trees. They are friendly, and are good friends with the diwata. They offer you betel nut, they ask for fish in return.

9

A jinn stalks you. They are hostile, and are demonic in nature. They will not hesitate to kill you. If killed, gain its eye, which is valued by Akai alchemists.

10

A ritual marriage is being performed. White tattoos upon hands and face. There are Aasama folk nearby fighting off sea ghosts that seek to kill the Bride for infidelity.

11

You find a sarimanok egg. It will hatch soon. Apumbukid, Dagindaran, Sonyoh, and Akai forces are somewhere nearby, trying to get it first.

12

An Akai warband has arrived, led by a warrior-priest to Goddess. They will kill all those in their way. They are the forward team for the advancing army of the Sultana, who has begun their Lunar Campaign to take over the Virbanwan region.

345

The Sword Isles

Isles of Rajakami The dragon head of the Sword Isles. Rajakami means “King Cinnamon”, Rajakami is commonly known as the islands of High Spice. The High Spices are considered the greatest spices in Gubat Banwa, and is so valuable that much of modern trade surrounds their flow, causing Baik Hu, Ramahasa, Mahajola, Issohappa, and other far continents to vie for ownership of the Sword Isles. The residents of Rajakami are powerful shaman-kings and sorcerer-queens that use witchcraft made from the high spices to summon dragons and control the Gods. The Isles of Rajakami are covered in dense and lush forests. Slumbering naga surround each major island.

d12

Events

1

You meet Issohappan merchant-warriors that are spearheading the “East Issohappan Trading Company”. Do what you will.

2

You meet one of the naga that surround the islands of the islands of the Cinnamon Kings. They give you wisdom and knowledge. They will ask you to kill a Pale King that lives somewhere nearby.

3

Pale King warband.

4

You speak with Iyamat merchants that have traveled far and wide. They bring with them expensive silks and tea, in exchange for spices.

5

An offshoot of the Baikhan Treasure Fleet has arrived here, sent on a mission by the Zhu Empress. They ask for directions going back, as they must regroup with the Treasure Fleet on the way to Auraska to the grand city of INDR.

6

You come across the kingdom of Gapi, famed for its spices and cloves. The settlements of the kingdom circle the mountain of Kamalam, each settlement is ruled by a Molome, and each Molome answers to Katchil Mashur Malamo, or Kolano (King) Kiko. It is expanding from its place at the southeastern tip of Salak, as trade with Issohappan kingdoms and the Azur Caliphates expands.

7

A house filled with nutmeg, untouched by colonizers, traders and merchants.

8

Dagindaran warriors, following the Lunar Goddess, raid a small Astraiman (the Bleeding Star faith) settlement. A nearby larger Astraiman military outpost is coming to fight back. Virbanwans are in the vicinity, fighting for the Astraiman forces.

9

You meet a Spear Bearer from Naksuwarga, a rising power, who wishes to make trade relations with the kingdom of Ema, the community that sits atop the largest natural nutmeg forest, wherein the nutmeg god lives.

10

You meet Galadan merchants and warriors, from North Issohappa. They are still enthralled by Pale Kings, but these seem to be free from Pale King influence, and have come not as invaders, but as servants of the local kings.

11

You find a dead corpse of a Pale King being eaten alive by suanggi.

12

You meet the Cinnamon King: the god of spices who is clad in gold and has skin like flame. They are Rajakami, and they are too friendly. As if they are an ancestor spirit. They grant you a single food of their choice, but will ask you to kill a Pale King outpost in the far northwest.

346

The Sword Isles

Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows The far tassels of the Sword isles, this region is a newer addition, as it is quite literally Jamiyun Kulisa’s giant lightning cloud arrows fired to try and slay the great Nushen Nugua, mother of the million peoples of central Baik Hu. Nushen Nugua survived the attacks and made a pact with Jamiyun Kulisa that their children will trade and exchange what they know of the world. The arrows that fell upon the sea that now connect the Footsteps of the Gods to the mainland continent of Baik Hu have become populated with grand kingdoms. From great god-kings, to sageshamans, to tiger-conquerors. Jamiyun Kulisa’s Arrows are covered with islands of verdant jungles and millet fields, but more striking are the architectural marvels built within, stillshrines to the gods. Many of the inhabitants of The Sword Isles travel here to fulfill religious pilgrimages and achieve spiritual enlightenment.

d12

Events

1

A monk is reliving the travels of Tulopitaka across the entirety of the Sword Isles from Ba-e to the mountain if MR, in the subcontinent of Indr. You meet them, but they are haggard and tired and have no companions. They wield a staff and a sword themselves. When asked, replies that their name is “Sansan” and their companions have died.

2

Altan Surutai warriors have arrived in the island of Sakara, where the ancient kingdom of Wijaya once lived, and where the great city of Indrapura led by Nyi Warokken is established. The Altan Surutai are powerful warriors that, before the Zhu Dynasty of Baik Hu, ruled over Baik Hu thanks to the strength of their Divine Warlord, the Gengis Khan Qiyun Tailu, who heralded the Tailu emperor. A plucky young aristocrat, the nephew of the Nyi Warokken, Rasa Sakra, has offered to help the Altan Surutai warriors to overthrow Indrapura, with the promise that he becomes the new king. He is conniving however, and he will betray the Altan Surutai in the end.

3

Rajasa Wuni, an ancient warrior-king from Halun, is constructing a rebellion against the greater king Dewa Lakapati, who rules Halun from the northern tip of the Continent. He wields the powers of the sea like a puppeteer moves shadows.

4

A play representing the fight between the war between the Bulanist Lunar Followers and the Ashen Starites is being performed out in the streets.

5

A grand procession of elephants and lions is being presented before a grand monument made to resemble the mountain of MR, which is one of the pillars of the earth (the center being grand Apu).

6

You meet an outpost of Auraskan Lionfolk from the Indr subcontinent. They are friendly and can speak Trade Mataram, the trading language in the Isles. They’re mostly merchants, but there are some ksatriyas that wield urumis and trishulas.

7

A band of Sinuku mercenaries are riding to the kingdom of the Kassr, which is in war with the Anibuga. This is how Sinuku gains wealth and glory. They invite you along.

8

Traders from the Azur Caliphates, wrapped in silks, mostly bamboofolk but there are some pigeonfolk. They are great with money. They preach the Lunar Goddess’ holy word, and the teachings of Sihkandag.

9

A tiger swims toward you. Roll a d6: on a 6, it’s friendly. Otherwise, it is hungry. It is larger than the usual tiger.

10

A king is hunting, with a coterie of other hunters. He is hunting from atop an elephant. They are hunting imported giraffes from the Continent of the far Southeast.

11

You meet an Ashinin priest performing a Geniyajna, the fire sacrifice. When they see you, they pull out a ritual knife and ask if you want blessings. You must give up something important to you. If you do, this is considered as furthering your glory for the purposes of growing your Legend.

12

You find kinnari, freed from royalty, dancing about. When they see you, they run away. If caught, will find that they are the princess of a nearby kingdom.

347

The Sword Isles

The Graveyard of the Winds Two ancient wind gods, Habagat and Amihan, warred here. The islands are not islands but giant cannonballs, astras, giant skybarges, ancient arrows, shattered blades, scorched astras, cracked lances. This ancient war has long ended. Folk live on the remains of the giant weapons and vessels now. You will most probably need a boat to travel around here. Storms kick up in random places. Common to have a wind medium upon boats when travelling. Mairete and Ramasa are said to have been the ancient kingdoms of Habagat and Amihan, before war ravaged them. Demons are common here. They were used by Amihan and Habagat as footsoldiers and war slaves. Mairete is ruled by a manyheaded demon-bodhisattva. d12

Events

1

A group of warriors fend off an undead troop upriver into one of the islands.

2

A shaman-in-trance leaps into view. “The war continues!” she screams. “Amihan and Habagat ready their zephyr lances!”

3

A small warband finds you on their daily patrols. “Oi! Some stragglers! We could use some extra hands for that shrine we’re buildin’.” They unsheathe their blades.

4

You find an ancient javelin. It’s blade is made of calcified steel, forged by lightning. Find its owner and be rewarded, or wield it (Garoda Wingspear anting-anting) and be hounded by demons until you are dead.

5

You chance upon a lone balyan, working now as an exorcist, clothed in robes, ceremonial flowers, and white ritual paint. When asked, she will say that she is on the way to purify a town seemingly cursed by the ancestors. The town worships a malevolent deity known as Mother Midirah, a perversion of the Virbanwan Madiyah, who commands a virgin sacrifice every year.

6

A group of demons, still set to kill, attack the warband. This will always be a difficult encounter. The appearance of demons always means that Raja Sri is close behind: gain a +1 on your next roll on this table.

7

You encounter a ship on the way to raid a community on another island, for one reason or the other.

8

You find yourself in the Open Ocean or the Deep Wood. Something uncanny happens to you as you brush with the diamond realm of spirits. Will you ever be the same? Describe what you see. It scars you: start every Violence with -1 HP, but your Faith rises by 1 until your next Downtime.

9

You meet a giant. 50% chance of it being hungry. If it is, it immediately attacks (Size 2 Ogre Demon).

10

You encounter the king of Mairete, Raja Sri Diwa Haharing an ancient demon of three torsos. Surprisingly calm and collected, and rules a sophisticated city known as Taklub. Exports deerskins, honey, and warriors. Warriors are taught ancient demon arts. Sri Diwa Haharing learned his ways from a traveling monk named Sri Daitya, who died there and became a worshipped ancestor of Mairete. Diwa Haharing has achieved the bodhisattva state, though his life’s work is not yet done. He wishes to eradicate all demonkind, which he calls yawa.

11

You hear whistling as you cross a wood. Walk forward and don’t look back. Utter a prayer to the ancestors. If you dally too long, aghoy appear: stick-like slender men made of wood, whistling incessantly. They can be given offerings to appease them. Will curse you if you run or if you defeat them.

12

You come across a strangler fig surrounded by porcelain jars. A royal family’s burial grounds. An elderly balyan guards the area. Is kindly and offers betel nut.

348

The Sword Isles

Tauhaw

Composed of the largest settlements in the Gatusan Isles. Tauhaw is commonly seen as the island of royalty. Here the Hundred Houses of Gatusan--datu that pledge loyalty to the Raja--live. This is the region of the Raja, of the eventual Batarahari. The one who will unite the Hundred Chiefdoms and establish a grand kingdom, and then go on to rule the world. Foreigners are common here. From across the world. Paleskinned ones are looked upon with askance, but hospitality gets the better of Tauhawnon. Buwol houses one of the fiercest resistances against the Pale Kings. d12

Events

1

Caught in the crossfire of a datu hunting party, led by one of the many kedatuan royalty of the Hundred Houses.

2

An Annuvaran priest with a pewter monk-staff fights off a marauding band of water ghosts with the help of a fellow warrior taught in the destroyer-tradition of Siwa.

3

You come across a feast held to celebrate a successful raid. A severed head is mounted on a spear at the center. There is someone that wishes to steal the head.

4

An Akainon fisherman on his boat, filled with fish and coconut. If approached, asks for help hunting an old rival.

5

Encounter a musical warband travels from village to village. The leader has backwards feet and disappears at night.

6

A krait whisperer. She tells the story of the snakes. She makes friends with the coral serpents. She worships Vritra, the god of the dragons, who wishes to kill Jamiyun Kulisa, who is Indra.

7

There is a balak, a poetic bout, going on, the hollers and cheers echoing across the isle. It is a fight for the hand of the bride in marriage.

8

A child that speaks the language of the whale sharks, the butanding. They speak the secrets of the Tubigbanwa, that ancient and distant realm, where souls dead become servants and warriors of the sea empires.

9

A karakoa wreck. A witchpowder trail leads into the forest, which has blasted it into mangled fingers of magenta flame. Demons feast upon the stockpile. A nearby datu has heard of this wreck.

10

A warrior with crimson hair appears and asks for help. He is the heir to a settlement with a mystical well that produces ice and other confections. The settlement is being run aground by his father.

11

A travelling master teaches a discipline lost to time, but only in a royal palace, while everyone is asleep.

12

A tigerfolk prince from the realms of Mahajola, said to be a descendant of great Jamiyun Kulisa. Lost most of his things in a shipwreck after traveling into the Isles, save for his superior martial prowess, Vritra-slaying sword, and his serpent-mount. Offers you help and teaches the tenets of Ashinin. Wants to start his own kerajaan.

349

The Sword Isles

Barrier of Panlinugon

East of Tauhaw, a common stopping point for traders from Baik Hu, or those from the Footsteps of the Gods. A major city here is Kotalawana, named after its founder Sri Lawana, said to have been an avatar of Lawana Sinigida. The current raja, Raja Sri Lawana Kalima (the fifth) is a tyrant, subsuming other communities under his own. He wishes, of course, to show his devotion to his ancestor Lawana Sinigida and conquer Gatusan. Travel due east from the Barrier, and one finds the remains of steepled towers jutting from the ground, each layer of the tower housing a thousand gods. The occasional giant kampilan juts out out of the waves, seafoam crashing against it. Grand coral cities and ecosystems have risen around ancient monoliths of Indira Suga, the Empress of Kings, the Mother-Essence. Ask a local, and they point and say, “Samrasat.” That is all they know, that is all their ancestors know. When pressed, they shrug and say: “They are ruins now.”

d12

Events

1

An ancient cannon washes ashore the city of Kotalawana. Local datu fight over it. It has the strength to destroy thousands. Raja Sri Lawana Kalima wants it for himself.

2

Ashinin missionaries have arrived from the Tiger Empires: ivory tigerfolk with four hands. They peddle gods and spices. One wishes to speak about Siwa, the Lord of Dancers, the bringer of destruction. The isles know Siwa by another name: Batala.

3

Sea raiders pass by, hooting and hollering, looking for another kill. They’ve found one, probably, with your warband.

4

A giant rouses from their deep slumber from a seaside cave. Wishes to fight someone worthy of their time. Will not fight someone smaller than him. Will wrestle gods.

5

A shaman laps at stream. Possessed by a wild cat spirit. Wants milk. Has eyes the color of sunset.

6

The weeds move. Little water ghosts dance. Will ask for food or for offerings. Prone to violence.

7

A headtaking ritual. Unable to escape; must partake in the violence. If not, prepare to be decapitated. Led by a boar god.

8

A banana tree with a drop of moonlight hanging from its heart. If ingested, receive the fireblood mutya. However a snake god will chase after you, trying to get it back.

9

A stray tiger traveling across an island. Missionaries will say it is a sign that Siwa blesses Panyupayana (their name for the Sword Isles). The tiger is hungry.

10

An Apunon camp. They are waiting for a perfect time to strike against a rising village allied with Kotalawan. It has been a constant source of Dihiyang for the longest time.

11

A lone faithful of Annuvaran faith in the corner of a settlement. Built their own pagoda-temple out of hardwood. Prays to the Buddha Vairochana, whom she refers to as Sri Rajaraya Balaan Malaun, the great king holy Malaun, which means Ancient One. Vairochana is a primordial Buddha.

12

A man scratching at his eyes. Has his third eye opened. Cannot be unseen. He is the king of Samrasat. Cursed forever by ancestors.

350

The Sword Isles

The Pannai League

A powerful league of cities each ruled by a datu, each one on the verge of becoming a raja. They are a league of ten cities trading and raiding together. Each one is ruled by a powerful datu, each one has its own patron spirit. Witness the holy mountain of Madjaas, where the souls of the League return to instead of Sulad. It reaches the sky, that temple-mountain. Atop it is the Buhi Lunok, the Tree of Life, guarded and cultivated by Sri Dapa, the God of Mortality. He marks the tree every time a mortal is born with their expected life span. The League is under constant attack from both Virbanwan and Akai forces. With the help of Gatusanon raiders and Apunon warrior-monks, they fend them off. The League stands tall and equals Ba-e in age. The ten major cities of Pannai are known as the Sampu Hias Sang Kalis (Ten Jewels of Sword). They are descended from the 10 Mahadatu who escaped the tyranny of Raja Makatunao in Sonyoh. Each one of them claims lineage to the god Seri Maharaja. Seri Maharaja came from the reverent Pannai Kingdom of warrior-monastics, followers of the Thunderbolt Vajra, in Jamiyun Kulisa’s arrows. They decimated Mahajola’s invading forces. They lost in the end, and arrived in Gatusan afterwards.

d12

Events

1

Witness the Royal Dragon Barge of Datu Sumakwel, great fire-bearer, who once wrestled a naga to the ground from a volcano. The Royal Dragon Barge is large enough to house various houses within, as well as its own marketplace. There’s been a murder within it.

2

The great Heaven-Piercing Datu Bangkaya, who was an esteemed learner of the Heaven-Rending Art of Heavenspears. His city-state rests before a large cliff in the shape of Raja Makatunao jutting out. Ashinin devotees sometimes rest here to give lotus-prayers and perform mantra-meditations. Datu Bangkaya has lately been a devotee of Annuvaran, believing in the perfection of sunyata and the liberation from

3

Meet a warrior of the lord of earth Padohinog, who could level mountains with a single strike. His settlement is deep in the forests of Pannai, where he is close friends with the forest god. The warrior has crimson eyes and is skillful with an axe in both felling trees and foes. He is traveling to the volcano of Kanlaon, wherein a great dragon sleeps.

4

You meet the grand Datu Bantugan himself, whose skin is almost pale thanks to tiger-blood descendancy. He is one of the few datu that does not claim lineage to Raja Makatunao but rather, to Megat Seri Laon, who once traveled to the volcano now known as great Kanlaon and defeated the ancient Dragon Demon-God within. He is looking for someone to carry out his dirty work: someone in a rival community must die.

5

By the shore, a crocodile spirit has possessed a fisherman. He lies down belly up all the time. Belches out weapons.

6

A warrior from the settlement of Datu Paiburong, Banwa Irong-Irong, arrives to ask for help: their hand has been ripped off, and they wish for their arm back. Datu Paiburong is the lord of the Irong-Irong strait, controller of the flow of trade there, thus becoming a rich city-state. Datu Paiburong is a patron of the Ashinin Faith and mixes it with local anitu, building monasteries and candi to the goddess Gold Tara.

7

An Ashinin monk, pewter staff and all. Looking for Kadungganan to help them travel to the Far East.

8

Meet Sri Dapa, azure-skinned and multiple hands. An aspect of Siwa, who counts down mortality. Can teach the Dance of Death if asked, as well as the Decapitation Rite.

9

A giant naga erupts from a river. It chokes upon a god. Choose who to save. The god is always powerful, perhaps an aspect of Wisnu.

10

A greater shaman-sorcerer, a ma-aram, seeks out Kadungganan for help in a ritual to end an ancestor’s line to end a great evil.

11

Ancient metal statues in the forests of Pannai have begun to move. They were made by ancient Annuvaran monks. They watch you as you cross the forests.

12

You come across a large group of people working on building a great candi. Demons try to stop them.

351

The Sword Isles

Khadnala Sword Shards

Perhaps the most dangerous area of Gatusan. It is the wastelands, no-man’s land. There is only 1 Chiefdom here: the Chiefdom of Sakad, established by Sri Kad in Gandara. Sri Kad accrued power through both devotion to Maka-ako the Creator as well as righteousness by cultivating merit from the ancestors. Sri Kad was the closest thing to a rightful king. A servant of people. He was killed by his brother, Sri Nala. Sri Nala took upon the regnal name Sri Maharaja Payana Parameswara Hari Dalayawon. He went out eradicating the rest of the burgeoning communities of the Khadnala Sword Shards, leaving cityand village-ruins and creating large wells of atrocity. Demons now abound, as well as vengeful dead (known usually as: preta, hantu, amalanhig), across these islands. Thus it is considered a cursed region. The current Chief of Sakad is Sri Kamakama, who is said to have the blood of vengeful ghosts. He is referred to by others as the King of the Ghost Isles, and he is treated more as a king of ghosts rather than a chief of people. Sri Kamakama is a kind warrior-brave who channels the merit of his ancestors. Through kindness he has asked for the help of Anitu and Annuvaran exorcists to cleanse the islands.

d12

Events

1

You encounter a hungry ghost. Its maw opens. Its body always looks away from you, but its head always faces you.

2

A demon-witch manananggal flies overhead, and finds one of you as prey.

3

An amalanhig: a ghost hungry and vengeful. According to the Ashinin, died with horrible karma. According to local anitu, these are people that died as horrible beings, and cannot find rest in any place, even in Sulad, due to their sins being too great for them to enter into any afterlife. They attack immediately.

4

A Makinaadmanon, a sage, who teaches of Perfect Divine Ego-Death. Teaches that the creator god Kaptan, to create the Trichiliocosm, killed his Ego. Kaptan thus became the Trichiliocosm. The Makinaadmanon is a very kind warrior-priest that gives tea and the Geomantic Moondrop to the warbands.

5

A small community that follows Nataraja, the Lord of Dance, performs a vigorous tandava to commemmorate the rising of a new datu. There is an ambush ready to strike.

6

A ruin. Preta wander it. Wails echo across it. There is no respite for these ghosts. Cleanse them (Ghost).

7

A spot of forest where everything becomes black. An amalanhig with a gaping maw follows you. You see her at the corner of your eye. Closer, closer. (Ghost Chief)

8

A wandering hammer-exorcist, a master of the Blood-Soaked Hammer of Hari. Can teach it. Has an anvil made of preta. On the hunt for Asuras.

9

A wandering tigerman-priest, whose hair is crazed and whose eyes are always blood-shot. A brahmarakshasa, demon-priests. Ashinin missionaries that died evil.

10

A shaman who channels Durga the goddess of death, of whom Kalakatri is an indigenized form of. Durga comes from Southeast Mahajola, the goddess of warriors and in some sects is associated with the All-Mother Essence Shakti. The shaman goes around putting preta and amalanhig to rest with a giant executioner’s panabas.

11

You find Sri Kamakama’s city. A great city wherein amalanhig are turned to manual labor, ordered by Annuvaran monks, to make up for their evil deeds. Sri Kamakama is hospitable and meritorious, who knows of the prejudice from outside the Sword Shards.

12

A black-tiger, an avatar of Yamaraja, Supreme Lord of the Underworlds. He beckons you. Can teach the Dance of Death if so wished. Can show a path into the underworld.

352

The Sword Isles

353

VII: Lore

Barter Items If you want to randomize, roll 2d8, setting one dice as the tens place and the other as the ones place. The barter ratings are generalizations, it will not be the same across all polities. 11- Kupya. Steel peaked helmet. An import from foreign lands, now forged locally. 12 - Betel Nut Chew. When given to someone you just met, it grants you +1d when conversing with them. 13 - Abaca Rope. 20 feet long. Has numerous uses. 14 - Glazed Water Pot. Useful for carrying water.

exchange for local forest goods) so that they can be broken to supply smith forges, since it was easier to trade in malleable iron than to extract metal from ore. Rarity to smiths. 33 - Palo. Panday tools. The palo is a two-handed stone maul for working iron. Palo-palo is a smaller stone hammer. A pair value at 34 - Garol. Curved bladed spurs for fighting cocks. Valued by those that frequent sabong fights and those that train fighting cocks. 35 - Bisol Tail. The bisol is a kind of ray fish with a tough and rough tail, used as a smoothener to smooth the hardest of woods.

15 - Abaca Sack. A sack used for carrying things.

36 - Daya. A flat open boat akin to sampans. Can be used to travel up and down streams and rivers.

16 - Banig. A textile mat great for resting..

37 - Balanga. A flat clay pan used for frying. Commodity, sold by most potters.

17 - Bamboo Fishing Rod. A fishing rod.

38 - Gining. A large porcelain jar used for creating pangasi rice wine. Necessity, usually comes from foreign trade with Baik Hu and Malirawat.

18 –Habay-habay. An abaca fiber under armor, worn similar to a burlap sack. Usually waist length, but can reach ankle length.

41 - Kabo. A blue and white jarlet, Baikhan construct.

21 - A clay pot of dyestuffs. Choose which color. This can be used to dye any cloth.

42 - Dulang. Wooden pan used to pan gold from streams and riverbeds.

22 – Palm Leaf Scrolls and Writing Knife. Can be used to write messages and notes.

43 - Kamagi. Neck Trinket. Gold necklaces that contain hundreds of links and rods and wires, all made of gold.

23 - Clay Pot. A clay pot that can preserve anything put within it for a three days. 24 - Tuba. Fermented coconut wine. When drunken, must succeed on a save or else they are incapacitated for 6 hours. Bahandi.

44 - Pakil. The native term for breastplate, can be made of kalabaw hide, kalabaw horn, elephant hide, gold, bronze, steel, hardwood, or bamboo. It is a necessity if its hardwood, bamboo, or gold. It is a rarity if its made of kalabaw hide, elephant hide, bronze, and steel.

25 - Kasing. A hardwood spinning top much wanted by children and collectors. Values at

45 - Pakang. A kind of mallet used to drive a lukub, an instrument to make holes in shipbuilding.

26 - Kudyapi or Korlong. A boat lute, usually with one or two strings, played with a plectrum. Much wanted for feasts and celebrations. Kudyapi is used by males and korlong by females. Values at

46 - Kagingking. Branches of bamboo whereupon leaves grow, used for rituals and decoration. 47 - Karayang. Frying pans of pure iron. Used for cooking. Traded in from Naksuwarga or Baik Hu.

27 - Agung. A bronze or war gong, used for official proceedings, ceremonies, war, and news. Bahandi.

48 - Bakud. Poles used like staffs, made to create holes in the ground for farming.

28 - Ancestor or Diwata Idol. A little human being or idol usually made of wood or stone, found in almost every household in The Sword Isles. They represent little gods or diwata, guardian spirits, or ancestral spirits that the common folk pray to everyday. Some settlements paint them intricately, others laurel and perfume them. Offerings are given to them everyday. Usually not sold, and no one in the market would seek it.

51 - Subing. A bamboo jaw harp. A twanging reed plucked between the lips or teeth with the mouth as a variable resonating chamber.

31 - Hinalasan Burial Jar. A porcelain jar depicting a river dragon. Used as a means of secondary burial, where the bones of the deceased are perfumed and stuffed within in a sitting position--with their knees up to their chin--along with their jewelry. Bahandi.

54 - Kandit. Neck Trinket. Heavy gold sash worn by kedatuan royalty.

32 - Baikhan Cauldrons. Usually used for stews and soups, they are usually traded in from the Southeast Continent (in

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52 - Tolali. A bamboo nose flute, made to echo mournful human sounds. 53 - Bangati. A vine used as a preventative for epilepsy.

55 - Golden Flower Ear Ornaments. Ear Trinket. Four petaled gold flower sculptures, depicting the ancient Flower of Life. Excessively ornamented and decorated, made by the most skilled of panday sa bulawan (goldsmiths).

56 - Patan-aw. Ear Trinket. Dangling gold earrings where articulation is achieved by fusing zigzagging gold wire into hollow hoops. From these dangle multiple round, rhomboid, and foliate spangles and ornaments.

72 - Kupit. A knapsack for holding items.

57 – Paruka. Wooden clogs, sometimes made of intricate gold. A sign of wealth..

75 - Tapul. Tar-based teeth coating that can be applied to give the teeth polished ivory. It also acts as teeth preservatives. In most of the cultures of the known isles, white teeth belongs only to the animals.

58 - Gold Barter Rings. Ring. Golden rings engraved with exquisite wave patterns used as trading currency. 61 - Tutubi Necklace. Neck Trinket. Or dragonfly necklace. Made of gold, a kind of necklace made of thousands of granulated gold beads, flattened to create a shimmering effect reminiscent of the tails of tutubi, dragonflies. Expensive almost anywhere. 62 - Golden Forearm Bands. Wrist Bangles. Gold bands made of sheets of gold wrapped around the forearms, decorated with rose and palmetto motifs. 63 - Gold Armbands and Bracelets. Wrist Bangles. Wide gold flaring bands worn as bracelets.

73 - Bangkat. Bamboo carrying basket. 74 - Kupang. A skein of cotton.

76 - Lakha. Red ant eggs chewed to grant the teeth a deep red color. 77 - Pandong. Any natural covering used as a lady’s cloak. 78 - Sarok. A headdress with a deep crown, used for travel on foot or by boat. 81 - Paraluman. A compass, not really used much as sailors in the Archipelago memorize the currents, the islands, and know how to read the stars. 82 - Bronze Mirror. Used as a mirror.

64 - Gold Petaloid Ear Ornaments. Earring. Ear ornaments with petaloid protrusions and floral designs.

83 - Incense Pots. Valued by those higher in society, important during death rituals, funerals, and mournings.

65 - Habul. Abaca cloth, used for a variety of things.

84 - Bulat. A perfumed ointment, compounded of many ingredients, used for hair fragrance and luxuriant growth.

66 - Salt. Salt derived from saltwater was precious. One ganta (3 liters) is usually needed by most people. 67 - Kukot. Wooden counters for calculation of barter. Every tenth kukot was of a different size, to help in counting. 68 - Cast-Iron Pans. From trade with others. Wanted by panday sa puthaw (blacksmiths). Commodity, Necessity to smiths. 71 - Bugsok. A bamboo clothes hamper that you can keep your clothes and other items in.

85 - Puno. A fine comb for removing head lice or ringworm scales. 86 - Silat. A toothbrush made of vegetable husk for cleaning and polishing teeth. 87 - Powdered Duyong Bones. A panacea for all kinds of treatment. 88 - Puso Rice Cakes. Rice cakes boiled in a little wrapper of coconut leaves.

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Martial Arts

A Collection of Writings and Silks of the Lotus

The following is a series of translated writings and songs from the lands of Gubat Banwa, many of them written upon palm leaf manuscripts, others written on copperplate and ivory seals. Most of these have been passed down to us in song and gossip.

On The Shape of the World Written by Sahajaya Ngarok, the Fortress Shattering Makinaadmanon. There has been a violence within the echoes and songs of the learned and the fools, upon the proper shape of Gubat Banwa. Many have said that since there are countless gods and demons that the world is not shaped at all, but the spiritual truth of formless reality– Ang Tanan Nga Kawala (The All That Is Nothing)--which is that ultimate reality that exists beyond us and before us and even before the great Sky and Sea, obviously goes against that. How can we, as finite creatures, little eels upon the river of existence, know that the world is not shaped? If the ultimate is formless then we must be formed, for we are not ultimate. Therefore the two most popular views upon which the world is shaped are as follows: Hulma Niyog (Coconut Shaped) or Hulma Baino (Lotus Shaped). The more common knowledge spread across the Sword Isles is that the world is shaped like a coconut, the Hulma Niyog. This view originated within the isles itself, and only makes sense: there are the realm of the mortals, upon which we live, in the middle of the coconut, the realm of the gods on the upper half, and then the realm of the underdwellers in the lower half, all of it encased within a coconut-shaped cosmos. This world thus floats upon the Sea of Wine. The other popular view has been introduced from the far southeastern missionaries and monks: that the world is shaped like a Lotus, and it is balanced upon the tip of the trident of Rayasaiwa, the central Guardian God. The trident is known as Kadaut Rishud. Others say that the Sea of Wine is the infinite vastness that is Rayasaiwa (thus the Sea of Wine is also known as Rayavritur, which means “Presence of Rayasaiwa”) and there are a potentially infinite number of Lotuses (each one being a smaller reality) which float upon Rayavritur, each one balanced upon the infinite Kadaut Rishud. The sky is the lotus bud’s ceiling, the farthest reaches of the World Jaws (upon which the Continents are affixed) turn into the petals of the lotus, and the depths of the world eventually ends in a giant pillar that is the Kadaut Rishud. What is the truth? Much more rumination and song is needed, and experience and storytelling, and perhaps we can ask the ancestors about the truth of the matter. Perhaps it is both, or perhaps it is neither? Whatever it may be, it is the shape.

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The primary way of fighting in every culture is expressed as an art. These are martial arts. As with any art, there are many different schools and branches of this art, and that is doubly true for Gubat Banwa, where Martial Arts are the primary art. Settlements might have special personal Martial Arts only taught to the royalty of their village, while others might have traveling martial sages or blacksmiths that actively spread their martial art. Others might have started Communities of Learning deep into the mountains, inspired by foreign monasteries.

On the Topic of Rulership Written by Sri Kadasiga Mahawagas, an excerpt from his “Sermons on Virtue and Rulership.” “For many datu in the isles, some sort of divinity is a useful claim to royalty. This is because a ruler’s powerbase, a king’s powerbase, in the isles depends on how much virtue or merit the commonfolk see that you have. If they realize that another, different warrior-brave or king has a more powerful claim to royalty, whether it be divine heritage, bloodline, or superior ultraviolence, then they will switch allegiance on a dime, following the more powerful one. Why would you follow a non-virtuous person? If you follow a virtuous leader, then you will cultivate virtue yourself. “Let me tell you, song within song, a story I have learned from my teacher, a peerless spearwoman, named Tagos, which means pierce through. ‘O great Makinaadmanon, tell us: what does it take to be a king?’ The great Makinaadmanon bent her head in introspection, and then said: ‘Two things. Merit and Compassion. ‘To expound: all kings must express great merit, one that speaks good of their actions on the earth. This merit shall fill them, proper fealty and obeisance to the superstitions of the world. Those of Gatusan like to call it ‘Gahum’, power, but in fact it is more than just. It is more than just power. It is respect, charisma, force of personality, and virtue.’ ‘Great Makinaadmanon, what brings one merit?’ ‘Proper action. The king reflects upon his disciples, his followers, you see. If the king acts correctly, then his followers shall follow correctly. He shall avenge his ancestors that have been wronged, execute justice, cultivate compassion and harmony with nature, and a propensity for peace, and silent stoic virtue that cuts through falsities, smoke, and bamboo to arrive at the proper conclusions to better support his disciples.’ A pale young girl, with hair the color of yellowed flowers, said: ‘You speak of the king with his disciplines—‘ ‘Yes,’ interrupted the Makinaadmanon. ‘That is because Kings from your land subjugate. Kings here in the Sword Isles: Rajahs, Lakan, Datu, Sultans… they are all leaders. They are not simply rulers. They carry with them their strength, and they are chosen by the people to lead them, and not given to them by Gods. There is a difference.”

The boy lifted a thoughtful eyebrow. ‘But that is not how it seems, great Makinaadmanon, in the Sword Isles. The Sultana claims heritage to the Moon, the Batara Lakan is chosen by God, the Hari has the blood of tiger-gods…’ The Makinaadmanon laughed and nodded. “No merit, no compassion…” she turned on the boulder she sat and bent over, as if retching. Then she said, her teeth stained red by the betel nut that she had been chewing for 44 days: ‘That is why there are no kings in The Sword Isles.’ ‘Is Royalty something they must achieve then, wise one?’ ‘Nay. Royalty is something they must shed.” The Makinaadmanon grinned. Her shattered sword glinted in the night light. “Royalty is an incomplete thought crafted by autocrats. They must trudge toward holisticity, harmony, oneness, nature.” There are many terms that deal with the complex topic of rulership in the Isles. In general, “Kings” in the Sword Isles do not consolidate their power by collecting land, but rather, by collecting people, as the manual labor lets them take advantage of the abundant natural resources. The hierarchies of Rulership are as follows. Servants - The lowest in the Social Classes, those that can be sold like items, and are owned by those they owe their debt to. Servants are transferred through transference of debt. These are known as aliping sagigilid in both Ba-e and Virbanwa, oripun hayohay in Gatusan, ipun in Akai, and bayang in Apumbukid. Even lower than servants are the war chattel, known as captives, who do not even serve and are just sold like items. They are known as bihag across the isles. Peasant - The next lowest. They are indebted to their Chief, and are considered as owned by their Chief, in the same sense that a serf would be owned by a Lord. These are aliping namamahay in both Ba-e and Virbanwa, oripun tuhay in Gatusan, kiapangdilihan in Akai, and nugkat in Apumbukid. Conscript - The third lowest of the “servant” classes, conscripts have the most capacity for social mobility, as their primary purpose is to serve both as boat rowers for their Chief or owner’s vessel, as well as fighting for them. Brave exploits in combat in the Isles are recognized, and many Chiefs elevate faithful conscripts to becoming warriors. These are commonly known as horohan across the isles. Warriors - The middle-class after the peasants. They are similar to vassals in that they will fight for their owner. They are very often owned by Chiefs, and they have the ability to pay off their duty freely and to leave and choose a different Chief to serve. They are known as maharlika in Ba-e, sundalo in Virbanwa, timawa in Gatusan, kalita-o in Apumbukid, and satariya in Akai. Kadungganan - The best of the warriors, very often treated like aristocracy. Kadungganan are well feared across the archipelago, and spoken off in hushed tones. Many Kadungganan become Chiefs of their own right, or become sung about in the songs of the lorekeepers. Kadungganan in Gatusanon, Hulubalang in Akainon, Bayani in Ba-e, Kabalyero in Virbanwa, and Vwiraya in Apu-apu. Aristocrat - The nobles, very often they are related in some way to the Chief, whether it be through blood (even second

nephews become Aristocrats), marriage, or by the Chief absolving them of all Debt and making someone their vassal. Aristocrats enjoy the most freedom in society, second only to the Royalty and the Chief themselves, and very often delve into trades and professions that they can afford, such as boatwrightship, singing, mourning, weaving, blacksmithing, merchantry, and far-continent trading. A chief’s concubines are considered Aristocrats. They are known as tumao in Gatusan, mafengal in Apumbukid, tuwan in Akai, maginoo/binibini in Ba-e, and don/donya in Virbanwa. Royalty - The greatest of the nobles, these are first of kin blood-related to the Chief, or those that the Chief married. This includes the Chief’s parents, brothers, children, and grandchildren. Only the Chief’s main wife is considered royalty. Royalty have access to the wealth of the settlement, and enjoy the servitude of those that also serve the Chief. They are known as kadatuan in most communities, and datu in Akai. Chief - The greatest of royalty. They are the owners of a settlement. The entire settlement is known as their Following (remember power is gauged not by land controlled but by number of people you lord over) or their Chiefdom. When a Chief must pass down their title, they can choose amongst other royalty, and not just the eldest son. This is very often an important event, with the Chief speaking with a council of elders, sages, and warriors to choose the next Chief. Chiefs commonly choose the next Chief while still alive, and then retreat into a safer position deeper inland or within natural defensive bulwarks to live there, and are considered Elder Chiefs, who are considered Chiefs even as their Following is transferred to the newer Chief. Known as datu in most cultures. Akai calls them panglima. Chiefs very often depend on authority given to them by lineage or divinity (those that have the blood of diwata or of ancient hero ancestors are very often Chiefs). However, authority only gets them so far: they must consolidate their power by gathering many treasures, which they must showcase and flaunt to impress upon their Following the strength of their power. King/Queen/Great King/Great Queen - Kings are rarer than not in the Sword Isles, and are very commonly just Chiefs on a larger scale. They are commonly known as rajah or sarripada, while Ba-e calls them Pamegat, and Virbanwa calls them Lakan. Kings do not have larger swathes of land to control, but rather, have a number of Chiefs that defer authority to them, and they have this authority by dint of either communal agreement (as is the case in Gatusan), Trade Monopoly (meaning they have access to much wanted international wares and other wares from even within the Sword Isles), or through debt (they have a number of Chiefs that have debt to them, meaning the Chiefs become part of their Following). However, very often, when a King is defeated, since their power comes from the three things above, it does not mean that the Followings under the King’s authority automatically follow the one that defeated the King. In many cases, it means the Chiefdoms under the King are freed from the King’s authority, unless the one replacing the King can showcase that their power can daunt the other Followings as well. Some Kings can be considered Great Kings, if they have Kings in their debt. These Great Kings are rare in the isles,

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but they exist, and they are very easy to depose due to the volatile nature of political relationships. Great Kings very often have the title of Maharajah. Both Kings and Great Kings when they reach this position take on a different title, something impressive, something foreign, to consolidate their power. God-Kings/God-Queens - There are only five God-Kings in the Sword Isles. These are the rulers of the five major polities. In Akai, it is the Sultana. In Virbanwa, it is the Batara Lakan. In Ba-e, it is the Sangpamegat. In Apumbukid, it is the Jayavarnam (of which there are none, and is a title given only to the God of Apu Dayawa). And in Gatusan there is the Hari (a term taken more recently, as it was once reseved for foreign kings, but Rajah Ambasi has accrued enough power to take that term for himself).

The God-Kings emanate with divinity, and with so much power that their very bodies are considered treasures, said to shine with a sungleam aura, and their eyes burn with a different flame than mortals. This is not poetry: the GodKings are said to have been blessed by the Ancestors so much that they are very close to being the most powerful of mortals, and if any of them played their cards right, they could begin a Conquest that could span the entirety of Gubat Banwa. And that exactly is the problem: all mahamandalas (even Apumbukid, who must engage in violence to sustain Hiyang) are at the tipping edge of all out war, a war to see who will become the Universal Ruler of The Sword Isles. If any one takes control of the Sword Isles, they can feasibly take control of all of Gubat Banwa. When the balance is broken is when begins the Eighth Star Era, poetically known as the Year of Kalakatri, Goddess of Star Darkness and Murder. Even more poetically, it is known as The Longest Year. The Himayanon once said that the world ends at Eight, the holy number, the last number, perfection of divinity. Thus: the Eighth Star Era is said to be the final era of Gubat Banwa.

The Scourge First, realize this: the warring realms contend and play with fire. They must be in accordance with Hiyang, that is, supernal harmony with nature and the world, which in itself is holy and divine, for it is where all things come forth. In Gubat Banwa, “sacred nature” is tautology: nature is already inherently sacred, by dint of what it is. What happens, then, when what is sacred is desecrated? There is the state of anti Hiyang, known as Di-Hiyang. A being in Di-Hiyang is a being outside of the natural state. It is very rare for something to be in Di-Hiyang: almost anything done–from violence to love–is part of Hiyang. Hiyang, after all, is the totality of all these things. What is Di-Hiyang? Di-Hiyang arises in places of pure atrocity. Mindless mass murder, things that the diwata (manifestations of Hiyang) turn away from. Included in this atrocity is the desecration of natural places in which the diwata or the ancestors did not consent. Violence and brutality in a sacred grove incurs Di-Hiyang. A sacred place in Di-Hiyang is one that must be appeased, usually with balyan, but this can also be done naturally, by going through proper rites and speaking with the offended spirit/s. However, places of Di-Hiyang are very often marred forever by some unnatural infliction and desecration. This is called The Scourge. The Scourge manifests commonly as festering deep saffron petals, a broken and terrible perversion of natural beauty, as well as ivory branches. This is a natural occurence. Many of the beings that arise from Di-Hiyang are manifestations of the Scourge, wicked dissonance from nature and the world. These include beings such as demons (yawa, busaw, sitan) and the undead.

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Diwa

Concordance

Diwa is the natural flow of everything, of nature. It is the spirit of all things. When one says “Diwa of Justice”, then it means “The Essence of Justice” or “Spiritual Essence of Justice”. As the essence of all things it bolsters people. Diwa that is harnessed and used by warriors and martial artists is known as Gahum, sometimes Puhon, accessed through mystical-martial forms, practices, hand mudras, and sorcerous incantations known as mentala. Ancient items that have been passed down in generations have been imbued with Gahum, and thus is bolstered with overflowering Diwa. Items with overflowing Diwa become Treasures.

Concordance is the state of pure bliss and a final harmonious embrace of the Trichiliocosm. By embracing the truth of Ang Hiyang, that we are all ourselves but also all part of this world, in the same way that each leaf is its own leaf but is still part of a tree and is considered a tree as a whole, so is God. We are all individual parts of supreme reality but we all are, when one zooms out. Concordance is the ultimate embrace: when one becomes Ang Hiyang itself, or Essence itself, you disappear and become unseeable by Dihiyang beings, transcendent animism.

Treasures, known as kabilin or pusaka, are ancient heirlooms passed down from generation to generation, with each generation bolstering it with diwa by transferring gahom to it through using it, or adding to its story, as diwa is bolstered through the etheral void through song and tradition. The state of Hiyang can only be achieved if one’s own body and soul are harmonious with the everpresent diwa. Since diwa is present in everything, and is essence everything, even one’s self, Annuvaran religions conflate the concept of diwa with the concept of the continunous stream of conscience and state that there is no soul or self.

Hiyang Hiyang is an adjective. When something is “hiyang”, it is attuned to the natural flow of Kalibutan. Someone who is attuned with Hiyang is known as Naghiyang, and they are moving in the same flow as Hiyang. This philosophy of animistic harmony is known as Hiyangism. Becoming Naghiyang is an enlightened state but is not a final salvation or liberation from the sufferings of life. When one is Naghiyang, one moves in accordance with the wants of nature, with the bouncing gods that live in every single thing, including one’s self. They do everything naturally, easily, without thinking, action without thought. However, mindfulness is still required to stay Naghiyang: one can be very easily brought out of Naghiyang. Those in Naghiyang revel in the absolute joy in being accordance with the trichiliocosm.

Kalibutan A term that means the world, or everything around you. It comes from libut, which means “to go around”. It is the cycle of nature, reality, and souls. It is a local term for the Trichiliocosm, because what is the cycle of violence but everything around you? This is the term used to describe the cyclical reality that all souls live in. Enlightenment is very often not separation from the kalibutan but rather, transcendental harmony with it, true liberation, allowing your Soul to operate unchained by it as you are it. This is a state known as Glory.

Godhood There are two paths to Godhood in Gubat Banwa: Death By Violence or Concordance. To begin, we must first define a God in Gubat Banwa. Gods in Gubat Banwa are divine manifestations of the flow of the universe of nature. Very often they arise from the world itself: thus there is a God of Death, or a God of Swords. There are a Trillion Trillion Gods across the Billion Billion Universes. There are two kinds of Gods: those Primordial that are Gods without having been once mortal, and those that were once mortal and ascended to Godhood. Many Little Gods—that is, Gods of little things, of cotton, of butterflies, of chrysanthemum petals, of small streams— can either be primordial or ancestral. Dying in Violence is the common way for many ancestors to become Gods. When they die, their blood creates the rainbow, and they travel to the sky with it, and they achieve Godhood and inhabit a particular domain connected to their exploits or what they loved to do when they were yet alive. A father who died protecting his children might become a God of Protection, or a the Guardian God of his lineage. Sometimes it arrives from soft atrocities: little children butchered by a Tyrant Overlord might become Yawa, but once cleansed and made Hiyang once again, they might turn into little gods of a particular forest clearing, manifesting as wood spirits (kahoynon) or earth spirits (yutanon). Those that achieve Godhood through Concordance tend to be non-warriors: poets that craft a transcendental epic that leads to them becoming Gods midsong, or a shaman that has perfected their revelry, penitence, and worship, becoming a burning Forest God. Those that achieve Godhood through Concordance rarely become Little Gods, even if they are the ones that understand that the power of Major Gods mean nothing in the grand tapestry of the Trichiliocosm.

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On Hiyang 1 - One day, walking upon a river of water lilies, Malaun the Oldest God asked Baginda Sumongsuklay, Despot of the Moon: “Demons are notorious liars. Do you not think this?” 2 - “I am inclined to think this, for I have slain demons and they have decided to live instead.” 3 - “And should you believe anything a demon says?” 4 - “I would think not,” said Baginda Sumongsuklay, as she cleaved a mountain in two, and took some of its copper and threw it to the moon. “That is dangerous, and will make me a liar.” 5 - “Baginda is delightful. But would a demon know the truth of this world?” 6 - “I would think not! Or perhaps, they would know truth but understand it incorrectly!” “Then what are mortals to you, then, Moon Goddess? They look at the truth of the world square in the eye but choose to misunderstand it.” 7 - “Mortals are worse than demons, Elder One,” said Baginda Sumongsuklay. “For it is their nature to reject their nature.” 8 - “A paradox of self-evisceration. Why do you think this? And what do you think of it? Rumination precedes anticipation.” 9 - Baginda Sumongsuklay thought for a moment. The moon lost 37 phases at that moment, as she felt paradoxes convalesce. “I have seen them toil and work as all beings do. I have seen them slay their lovers to lay with others. They have no halo but the blood of their victims. Yet they seek happiness and love and joy. In a state of constant selfcompassion and self-evisceration.” “Why do you think they are stuck in this loop?” 10 - “Because they do not understand the truth of the world, of which they misinterpret. The greatest of their sages write upon palm-leaf treatises on Oneness and Harmony and Completion and loss of self. That is a misinterpretation.” “You know the half of it. Why do they misinterpret, o Huntress?” 11 - “They believe themselves to be separate from nature.” “What is the truth of nature, then? Why must one be in harmony with nature?” 12 - Baginda Sumongsuklay looked up in confusion. Malaon the Eldest One, Ancestor of All Things, said: “Pity the fool, or pity none at all. Cast the teeth and tell innumerable stories. Believing themselves to be separate from nature is their greatest sin: they are part of nature. We are all part of a whole, but we are also completely different from each other. We are like the planks of a boat, meant to fit together, to create grand war barges that can sail to heaven.” 13 - “Then great Baginda, what must be chased after?” 14 - Pagmata, or Awakening, to the transcendent truth. Only then can one become Himayanon, Blossomed, liberated, living in Glory, detached from the world and also being the world itself.

What is the world but an infinite number of causes and effects? If that is the case, what is the first cause? It is hard

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to understand, because mortal minds must understand things in order, one after another, cause-and-effect. The first cause was also the effect. The birth of causality is paradox: cause-effect. The first cause-effect is two things as well: LoveEvisceration. They are the same and also different. The Sky and Sea was also the Skysea. They are one and the same, but then they are also different. When the Skysea became the Sky and Sea was the First Division. It was already that, of course. The Sky and Sea became Skysea as well, it also became First Unity. Thus the first Division and the First Unity are constantly, consistently, parallel and endlessly simultaneous. The Himayanon has been illuminated to this and thus he almost achieved the ultimate division. All things are cause-effect. Thus all things are the causes of each other’s effects, and vice versa. We are all changing each other. This is called Evisceration, the purest form of cause-effect, because we inherently are products of it, so are we it. Therefore, we must change each other responsibly, in accordance with each other’s needs, because we are all part of the same cause-effect. That is, nature. Folk are not separate from nature, they are nature. The greatest mistake of elder-thought is their belief that they are different or higher than others. This is the sin of Anthropocentrism. Nothing can be further from the truth; you must return to us. Only by returning to us will you find hiyang, which is a state of being harmonious with the cause-effect, which is nature. Being dissonant with the cause-effect, being in the state of Di Hiyang, creates ripples and scourges through the causeeffect. Since we are constantly affecting each other, if you do things that do are not Hiyang, then others will be affected: spirits might be displaced, trees might shrivel. A butterfly’s wings cause a storm, you see. Your unrighteous murder of your brother by the riverbed might cause her corpse to fall into the river, which angers the spirits of the sea, which might summon a grand typhoon upon your island, and the typhoon might threaten the grand god of your island’s volcano, and thus they might burst open, and cause clouds of black to block out the sun, and freeze Gubat Banwa forever. That is how your act of murder can lead to apocalypse. Therefore, being Hiyang is, in other words, being mindful of two things: your actions and your place in nature. You belong to us, you have never been apart from us. Even your weapons, and cannons, and vessels, and explosives, and towers… they are all part of the cause-effect, created with our consent. Thus is the same with you: we cannot affect you and kill you unless you allow, or if you have tampered with nature, which is our responsibility.

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Himayanon

The Flowing Flower River

Meaning Glorious - a syncretization of the Annuvaran buddha. While Annuvaran preaches absence of self and liberation from the phenomenal world (the term known as Annuvar), the Flower Philosophy teaches that Blossoming is like a transcendent joining. Your soul (kalag, or atma) is removed from kalibutan and becomes one with it, and thsu you achieve liberation from the Wheel. It is the realization that the Self and the All are one and the same. The Self is not part of the All, and the All is not composed of the Self. It is simply one thing, a transcendent supreme nature of no dichotomy. Himaya means glorious rapture or bliss.

The Flowing Flower River, spoken in a sermon by Dalugdog Himayanon, the Thundering Awakened, condenses to a single thought: give unto those around you, and those around you shall give unto you. This is visualized by a flowing flower-river: when you are in the river you think you are just a flower upon the river, but the river is actually connected to the sea, and the sea actually becomes the clouds, and the clouds eventually becomes the rain, and the rain is the reason why there is a river in the first place. At what point is there separation?

Paired with a new chosen name: ie. Himayanon Madaogong Senapati, or Himayanon Libong Kalis.

Similarly: the Self (Kaugalingon) is an important part of the Community, and the Community is an important part of Nature. As the Self, you must live in accordance with the Community, so that the Community can live in accordance with Nature. Nature in turn will grant blessings upon the Community, and all blessings upon the Community will become blessings upon the Self. Therefore, be mindful of yourself and those around you. No firefly alights alone, and no man is a single island in an archipelago.

Himayadiwa

The Path of the Flowing Flower River can be summarized into 4 Parts:

Himayanon are not gods. They are past godhood, for even gods are subject to the illusion of phenomenal reality (or dichotomous reality). Very often gods achieve Himayanon, however.

Syncretized from Annuvaran bodhisattva. One who possesses perfect wisdom and has Glory (Himaya) Essence (Diwa). Someone so close to the state of Namulakhood but has chosen to forestall Blossoming to spread teachings and help others achieve Himayahood. Himayadiwa are greater than gods as well, for they are effectively liberated from kalibutan. To achieve Himayadiwa one must first be Naghiyang, as to live in glory one must first experience concordance, but some exceptions exist: those that have attained a twisted understanding of twisted glory and think that the wheel of nature must be stopped or that all spirituality must be destroyed are known as Pintasdiwa (Cruel Essence).

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1. Know your place. Help those around you, and those around you will help you in turn. 2. Live with the Community. The Community must live with you. Help the Community, which might include things that might hurt the Community. 3. Respect the Ancestors. They are the rain that created the river that you are, but do not honor them if they have been detrimental to the Community, and therefore, to Nature. 4. Revere Nature: you are the Trichiliocosm experiencing itself. Liberation is not freedom but enlightenment. Glory is nothing but returning to the Trichiliocosm. Live in harmony with the Trichiliocosm’s absurdity and you will find Blossoming.

Death and the Afterworld

All Folk that die in battle ascend into the heaven of their choice or faith upon a rainbow. Their blood creates the colors that streak across the sky. Otherwise, all those that die go into the process of being picked up by the many psychopomps that permeate the cosmos. They are brought to the proper judgment as dictated by what faith holds their soul in thrall. In The Sword Isles, this is most often Sulad, where they will be judged accordingly to what items they were buried in. These afterworlds are several different reality realms that are interconnected and turn in kalibutan. For Gatusanon, Ba-enon, and Apunon: if they were buried with many gold and material wealth, they would be given the chance to be saved by Iraon-Daron, who brings them into one of the many heavens, usually a place of rest atop great mountains. Either that, or they can choose to send their dungan, their soulful willpower, into the body of another unborn child, effectively reincarnating. Many Ba-enon believe that a soul reincarnates as gods or other beings. For Virbanwans: this is usually the Impyerno, where they suffer the fires of Makaubos until the end of days. They do not have a chance for heaven unless they were redeemed by their faith to Makagagahum. For Akainon: they have a very similar process as with Gatusanon. However, if they profess their faith to Baginda Sumongsuklay, they get to be brought by Iraon-Daron to the tallest mountain on the moon, where the Holy Moon City of Baginda Sumongsuklay lies. There they rest and train until they are called into the final reckoning, the Ultimate War. Those of Akai get to have their souls kept in great holy jars guarded by six-winged Garuda in the Moon. The moon lies in the fifth heaven. Those that die in holy striving, usually in combat in the name of the Moon, get to live as sentient souls beside Baginda Sumongsuklay in her Lunar Palace. Those that were not given the chance to heaven either suffer in Impyerno, or toil forevermore in Sulad, doing what they already did in life: trading, farming, working, raiding, and feasting. This is a very benign end, and even in the afterlife they might be able to die. If they do, they reincarnate into the mortal world once again, although with a smaller soul this time. Having a smaller soul is not detrimental. However, once the soul is as small as a rice grain and can fit into the many thousand miniature caskets—usually after nine lives—they are thoroughly buried into Si Ginarugan’s garden, never to incarnate again. Souls of young children do not go to Sulad. They incarnate as birds of paradise in heaven and live in Glory.

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The Five Holy Beasts There are 5 animals in the Sword Isles that are almost always considered Holy, or at least Sacred. One must know that the attitude to things holy and sacred in the Sword Isles tend to be one with fear and reverence, awe and monumental respect. The Crocodile is one of the most well respected beasts: they are very often considered to be avatars of the ancestors themselves, and are treated like Grandfathers—that is, with utmost care and respect. They are the great masters of both sea and land, protectors of the places where water and earth meet. The Serpent is another well respected beast, and is just as feared. They are the consummate lords of the earth, as they are always in tune with the flow of the land, of the soil, of the rocks. Serpents that do not get killed are said to live forever, growing to immense sizes. Giant serpents are very often found in the deep forests, and they are very often gods. Serpent venom is the most potent venom, powerful enough to corrode the target’s shields and flesh, but it is also a healing component that must be mixed with blood and feathers of its opposite beast, the Eagle. The Water Buffalo is the lord of the plains. In Virbanwa, they are considered the lords of farmlands and tenacity, as they are used for plows. The Water Buffalo represents determination and steadfastness, and most importantly, the conviction of warriors. Water buffalo horn and hide is used to create armors and shields. The Dog is the lord of hunting and forests. They are cooperation, familial nature, and faithfulness incarnate. They represent honest work, and discipline needed for those in need. Dogs are very often guardian beasts for mountain settlements and inland settlements. The fabled Witch Dogs live in the deep forest: they are nature guardian spirits in their own right, and harming them is said to place a curse upon you. In the Ashen Star Faith, the Serpent is sometimes replaced with The Lion. There are no Lions in the Sword Isles, but there are lions from the regions where the Tranquility Missionaries from the Far Southeast and the Sanguine Missionaries of Issohappa hailed from. The Lion is the holy beast of pride, of strength, of leadership. It is associated with individuality and royalty, things kings cling to to keep power.

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In the Lunar Faith, the Serpent is sometimes replaced with the Horse. The horse, or kuda in Akainon tongue, is an animal that toils endlessly but is treated as a close companion. Many horses are outfitted with royal saddles of gold and pearl. Horses are named, and there are professional horse caretakers: some settlements in Kalanawan center around taking care of horses for example. Horses are also a symbol of royalty, faithfulness, and tenacity. It is also revered as a giver, as horse hide can be turned into armor, and their postures are commonly imitated by Akai warriors, creating the universal Akai martial art stance of kuda-kuda. Elder wild steeds become gods of the plains, and only the greatest of warlords can tame the horse gods. In the Lunar Faith, the Water Buffalo is sometimes replaced with the Elephant. The elephant, or gaja in Akainon tongue, is a grand animal that worships the moon and bathes in moonlight, a symbol of wealth, prestige, and most importantly, power. The elephant is not native to Akai, although dwarf elephants (remembered still by the Ba-enon as gaja pandak) were common in the elder Cycles. Much of the elephants were sailed in from Barungsai, Naksuwarga, and Malirawat, and many live now in Siga and northern Kalanawan. Elephants in the Sword Isles have only since become popular hunting game for Royal Hunts, led by Datu and Panglimas, although the Moonstone Elephants (gajabulan)—elephants with ivory skin and have a third eye made of moonstone—are reserved for the Sultana’s Royal Hunts only. It has been long said that elephants are the royal mount of Baginda Sumongsuklay. In the Lunar Faith (especially those Lunar Faith practitioners still living in Ananara), the Dog is sometimes replaced with the Tiger. Harimau in the Akainon tongue, the tiger is a burning symbol of ferocity, strength, power, and regality. There are only a few tigers in the Sword Isles, and most of them are found only in the Blade Island of Khadnala: the Khadnalan Tiger is the same tiger as the Sonyoh Tiger, which prowl the deep forests and create temples with the bones of its prey. Tiger fangs and claws are very often heirlooms, which boast great spiritual power and often have magical effects. The tiger’s majesty is alluded to among the Northeastern Akai settlements, closer to the Shield Isle of Sonyoh: they only ever talk about tigers in euphemisms, such as deep forest dog or striped bear. Legendary Sonyoh and Old Tundun demigod Si Gantar (full name: Si Gantar Pembunuh Harimau Rajarajaputih, which means Si Gantar, the Tiger Slayer of White Kings) was said to have slain Pale King Iacomus Broc while leading his warriors upon a flaming orange tiger, and so has the tiger become a symbol of freedom and rebellion.

On Names What is in a name? Let the Makinaadmanon speak: the name is the approximation of lightning. Do you know that what we name lightning is a fulmination at both end and beginning? Lightning leaves its origin and meets its destination immediately. We name and wax poetic about a moment without dichotomy, the truth of this world, for [now/later] or [beginning/ending] is a misconception made by mortals that die. And so thus is how we name ourselves. At our brightest, at our fulmination, at when we are reminded that we are both beginning and ending at the same exact time. Time is but justification. Like lightning, we are bright across a number of points, we are bright in a line, not a point. We are both instant and also causation-effect. Names, therefore, in the Thunder-Stricken Isles, are mercurial. To have only one name is the first death. To have many is immortality. The Thunder Lord Datu Sumangga, for example, is known very frequently only as the Thunder Lord, Datu Dawogdong, in other tongues. These are all their names and more, because what are names but approximations of us? Lovers, blood-oathed brothers, fire-forged friends (what’s the difference? I lump them together, my palm leaf paper binding them together as banana leaves wrap rice) frequently give each other poetic names that only they and they alone can speak, in the seconds of true night, in the glimpses of coming dawn. This is ours, they will say to themselves, because so many things are not theirs. This is ours and the worlds, not theirs. Ito ay sa atin, at atin lamang, they say. Sa atin, kasama ang daigdig, ang kalikasan, ikaw, at ako, hindi sila. [This is ours, and ours only. Ours: that is to say, the world’s, nature’s, yours, and mine, but not theirs.]

Witness two women: one named Bulan, for she was born during the full moon, and the other Siga, for she was born the day after a burning of villages. They could not be further apart: one is majesty in darkness, the other a palimpsest of our violence. One is divine, the other is mortal, truly mortal. These names do not define them, of course, but they define their names. Bulan is a noble, rich and powerful, bathed in copper like the moon itself. Siga, on the other hand, is infantry, a warrior-slave, to her. Like the flame that she is, she climbs up the ranks, builds her own honor, until she is finally become a warrior, of the warrior class, and appointed as personal guard to Bulan. Do you see the constellation I write with these words-asstars? The noble Bulan was not allowed to be seen by men. Of course she wasn’t: she was a veiled maiden, binukot in our dragon-slaying tongue. She was meant to be sold off to powerful nobles to increase the power of her father ruler. Siga was seen as a woman as well as dictated by her society, despite her being in a primarily male profession. She was allowed into Bulan’s enclosure, and there their rituals were religion. Hushed whispers, breath like incense smoke. There they named each other again: something only they can know. Only they can know. “Let us defy our fates,” whispered Bulan, her voice small, her voice not her, but Siga’s, for the first time. “I want to reach you,” replied Siga, as a flame that can never, ever, climb high enough to singe the moon. “Then you must become the darkness that wraps about me,” Bulan said, pushing a lock of hair behind Siga’s ear. “Because the darkness that wraps about the moon is perpetual, and eventually, subsumes it.” “Name me, and so shall I name you,” Siga whispered, her flames dying out into embers, into darkness, as she was told. “You are Dulumgabii,” Dark Night or Night Darkness, not any other kind of darkness. Dulumgabii nodded. She held her push-dagger so tight that she cut herself with its water-whetted blade. “And you will be my Gikaon,” replied the warrior whose flames have burnt out into darkness. Gikaon. Eaten—no. Consumed— no, too weak. Devoured, there. Devoured. For at endings the darkness always devours the moon, and that is their destiny now. And so was Sri Gikaon, noble devoured, named and consumed and eaten.

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Language In The Sword Isles The locals have their own language, and each polity has their own languages. Gatusanun is closest to Sinugbuanon. Ba-enun and Virbanwanun is closest to Tagalog. Akainun is closest to Tausug. Apumbukidnun is closest also to Sinugbuanon, but also Maranao. They are mutually unintelligible, though Gatusanun, Ba-enun, and Akainun can communicate passingly through brute forcing similar sounding terms. However, when trading they use the prominent Trading Language, Trade Mataram, which is a heavily mixed language that built upon two frameworks: Put’wanun (the language of Put’wan) and Mataraman (the language in the old Mataram Kingdom, before it fell to ruin, and was succeeded by Naksuwarga). They were the foremost traders, and thus everyone else took up their terms. Trade Mataram is a constructed language that is explicitly similar to a mixture of Bahasa Melayu and Sinugbuanon Bisaya, with borrowings from Old Tagalog, Hiligaynon, and the Tausug languages. Words are modified through the use of particles. In particular: -sin is equal to “of” in English, and is used to show that something afterwards owns it. Therefore: Sundangsin would translate to “Sword of”. Sundangsin Kadaugan would translate to “Sword of Victory”. Manga- is a plural modifier and added in front of a word. “Mangasundang” means “Swords”. “Mangasundangsin Kadaugan” would translate to Swords of Victory. -mo showcases ownership of the second person. “Sundangmo” means “Your sword.” -ko shows that you owe that word. “Sundangko” means “My Sword”. -mi translates closest to “us, but not including you”. Sundangmi means “Our sword, but not yours”. -ta translates closest to “us, including you”. Sundangta means “Our sword”.

Trade Mataram has no gendered pronouns: referring to the third person is simply siya (if before the noun) or iya (if after the noun). Wa’ay siya sundang/Wa’ay sundang iya. (They do not have a sword). Terms are usually created similarly to English: an adjective and then the noun. Adjectives are linked to nouns by affixing them after the noun or pronoun they modify. Balaybatu means “stone house”. Balaykahuy means “wooden house”. These combinations can usually end up in new terminology for terms: Batobalani for example would simply mean “Charming or Attractive Stone”, but has since become the term for Magnet. Some terms connect two nouns together to create a new meaning. Gubat Banwa is war + land. The various kinds of

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spirits have the region or location they live in before diwata. Banwadiwata (Land Spirit) means they’re a forest/ mountain/inland spirit, basically any spirit in untouched, natural land. Dagatdiwata (Sea spirit) means they’re a sea spirit. Lungsoddiwata (Community spirit) means they’re a settlement spirit, whether the settlement be a small hamlet or a large city. Translating Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi (Grass Cutter Sword) to Trade Mataram would then be “Sundangsin-Ganut” (Sword of Grass-Clearing). This can be rendered either as Sundangsinganut or Sundangsin Ganut and they mean the same. Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi (Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds) would be written as “Sundanglangitnonsin Nangtigomng Panganod” which translates closest to (Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds). Due to the nature of the Sword Isles, there is a great number of foreign terms that borrow from other terms. A worshipped god is usually understood to be a diwa. But a borrowed term from Naksuwarga has become used to refer to worshipped gods that do not live in nature and/or live in the sky, which is balahala. To get words for Trade Mataram, use Cebuano, Hiligaynon, or Butuanon words for common things, while more esoteric or specific concepts such as noble lords, flying serpents, winged beings, etc. can be Javanese, Thai, or Balinese in origin. More modern concepts can have Hokkien or Mandarin roots, such as the printing press and carriages. Use these to spice up your Gubat Banwa settings.

The Kadanay It is a common problem to think that the Kadanay were a vast empire in the past. Nothing is further from the truth: the Kadanay are magenta-eyed demispirits born through the matrimony of Ka, the Fuchsin Dragon, and Danay, the ancient moon-haired immortal who lived in the top of holy Mountain Banahaw before having to come down due to violence. Their children became the Kadanay people, who lived in the northeastern blade-tip of Rusunuga. There they traded with elder Tsam Saola, the ancient predecessor to the great Nagrakampa kingdom. The Kadanay people are peaceful traders, and their martial art is inherently protective and defensive, not made for raiding or warring. Due to their trade with the Tsam Saola, they managed to create vast nephrite and earthenware items, such as burial jars, swords, axes, and boats. Due to their inherent connection to nature, they have had access to incantations and rituals that let them create vast wooden and nephrite edifices, many of which are now gone in the Eighth Star Era for they understand the truth of things: anything they make pales in comparison with the natural monuments of the world. Ancient Kadanay burial jars also actually work as birth jars. Most burial jars depict a god rowing a boat with mortals sitting upon it, representing the journey into the underworld. Kadanay jars have those, but some of them also choose to depict a serpent instead. This is the life of a Kadanay: they are born from these burial jars as giant, barely conscious serpents, bursting forth impossibly like a snake from an egg. Their scales are magenta which, when shed, become violet-petalled flowers. A village takes care of a young Kadanay serpent-dragon during their youthful ages. Eventually, after a few moons, a Kadanay serpent-dragon grows smaller, and develops humanoid features as they grow older. By the time they are around 30 years old, the equivalent of a 20 harvest old bamboofolk, they are tall giants, always at least 8 feet tall, with dragon eyes and antler horns. Their hands and feet have four fingers each, creating 16 fingers, double the holy 8, which represents infinity and the spirits. Their feet are taloned, as with a monitor lizard, and are zygodactyl. Kadanay study the songs of the ancients, as well as pottery. They can choose to learn the Art of Dragon Protection, their martial art, or weaving. Farming is common amongst them as well, but many of them choose to embark on boatmaking and travel to their brothers in Tsam Saola, now Nagrakampa. The Kadanay clan has dwindled in numbers in the Eighth Star Era. Many say this is because the Kadanay are not made to suffer the great violence of the final Era of Gubat Banwa, the final gift of Ka to her scions. Much of their “achievements” have already been claimed by the earth, but that is because that is how they made it. They do not dream of empire.

More importantly, the Kadanay clan dwindles in numbers becuase they cannot procreate indefinitely. There are a limited number of birth-burial jars that can create new Kadanay, and all the jarsmiths that knew how to create more have passed. Kadanay don’t die, you see. They live for 300 years. As they age, they grow smaller and smaller. A 200 year old Kadanay is around 3 to four feet tall. Eventually they grow so small that they actually unite with the land, and become diwata. This is because they are immortal, their birthright. Remember that no mortal has ever become diwata. There are only 180 Kadanay left in the world.

Hara Binalo and Hari Harmanaga Hara Binalo, Queen of the Tanggal demonwitches, beings that can bisect themselves, peerless swordmasters and witches that practice Slicing sorcery. The tanggal are said to be the physical manifestation of the art of cutting, and therefore most swords must learn from them. Hara Binalo lives deep in the forests of Kihod, the Coral Island of Fire and Lightning, which arose from the Sea’s wombs. Kihod is known to house the head coven of the Tanggal demonwitches, Hara Binalo was said to be an angry witch that was sometimes conflated as an Aspect of Mahadiwa Kalakatri, or sometimes is referred to simply as her priestess. Hara Binalo’s daughter, Sintaputri, was one of the most beautiful women in all of the Sword Isles, but was shunned due to her mother. In anger, Hara Binalo revealed herself as the Mother of Ratu Tugas, the King of Kihod, who was cast out because of her increasing study and acceptance of Tanggal sorcery. Ratu Tugas, wishing for help, consulted his guardian ancestor spirit, who was Hari Harmanaga, the DragonTiger of Kihod. Arising from the cleanest springs of the island of Kihod, bathed once in the sea, Hari Harmanaga took to the deep forest and clashed with Hara Binalo, healing sorceries against cutting sorceries. Hari Harmanaga and his Dragon-Tiger Shamans performed preventive sorceries to combat this, making them invulnerable. The blood drops from this strange paradoxical interaction can still be found across Kihod, rendering one immune to piercing weapons for a short time when ingested. Eventually Hari Harmanaga succeeded and won, overcoming Hara Binalo in the ancient Dance of Katakeris in Tamagunas, Hara Binalo’s strangler fig and bone temple-castle, dedicated to Kalakatri. There, Binalo was sealed in her own ancient earthenware jar, and then sent down to the depths of Tamagunas, into the deepest cave complexes, so deep that the soil has become coral once again. Hari Harmanaga positioned himself then as king of spirits, the protector of good, and forevermore afterwards appears as umalagad for some warriors, and answers calls for protection and healing, a benevolent incarnation of Hiyang.

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Betel Nut Betel Nut (bonga/bunga, nganga), the fruit of the areca palm, is an integral part of socializing in the Sword Isles. In a simple way of understanding it, think of it as like the various tea ceremonies one would find in East Asia. Betel nut chewing is accompanied with its own ceremonies, given to visitors like an owner would offer tea. Betel nut itself has a mild narcotic effect, similarly to how tea might calm the nerves, or how alcohol might relax. Thus it is integral to conversation. Not only that, but betel nut chewing stains teeth red, making one “not an animal”, as only animals have white teeth.

Betel Nut Ceremony The nut is cut into segments, sprinkled with lime made from shells, wrapped in a leaf, and chewed into a quid which produces a blood-red spittle. The preparation, exchange, and serving of betel nut is the most important social act in all of the Sword Isles, even in Virbanwa. Men carried the necessary ingredients in little baskets or pouches. A householder who fails to offer betel nut to anyone who entered his house was an insult inviting enmity. On formal visits, the quids are prepared and served in expensive and beautiful metal trays or boxes by the females of the household: servants, daughters, or even the lady of the house herself, depending on the social standing of the guest. A special honor is to add a touch of musk or a slice of cinnamon bark, or some other aromatic flavoring, to the chew. Betel nut is also important in romance and courtship: to offer a quid partially chewed is an act of flirtation; to send one in response to a man’s clandestine request is an act of acceptance to his advances. To send it unbidden is an open invitation. Betel nut palms are extensively cultivated across the isles. Youths chewing for the first time usually suffer giddiness like drinking alcohol. Young noble ladies have their first betel nut chew as a kind of puberty rite or ceremony.

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On Gender and Sexuality While Classical Philippines isn’t as progressive as us these days when it comes to sexuality, they still had some interesting takes on it. At this point, you might have well known that most Philippine languages don’t have gendered pronouns, and if we did, they only came when the Spanish came. Another thing to note is the balyan in Ancient Philippines. While predominantly a woman’s profession, men could also take it up. While in Tagalog regions, it hasn’t been said whether a transition to femininity was required, it has been recorded in those regions, as well as almost every other region in the Philippines. These people were known as asug, bayugin, or binabaye in most contexts. They were treated like women and could even marry men. They were supposed to wear women’s clothing and perform women’s tasks. While this is not exactly the most progressive idea now, we can glean a bit from that, and we can apply a more progressive idea into our Fantasy twist on Classical Philippines. I’ve long thought about the idea of Classical Philippine gender and sex being entirely functional, due to the existence of the asug. If a man performed a woman’s duties and tasks, they were considered women. However, I’ve eventually come to the conclusion that another way of doing it might have been possible: that how they presented themselves was their gender. So a woman who presents and wears women's clothes, but performs the tasks of a man such as raiding, warring, and carpentry, would still be treated as a woman, or a bayi. However, if they chose to wear men’s clothes and preferred to be seen as a man, then they would be treated as such. In this manner, we can stay kind of true to what our research has shown us: that pre-Western genders were much more malleable than post-colonial ones. Despite this being much more in the space of speculation, it is one based on researched and informed speculation. Due to some Katalonan men still probably being treated like men despite performing the tasks of a “woman”, we can only assume that the same is true for the other islands and cultures. Of course, this still isn’t as progressive as we want it to be: from what I can see, despite the malleability of genders and sex in Classical Philippines, there was still that forced binary. While I’m personally staying true to that portion of history--partially because as much as I love this time period I don’t want people conflating this time period even more as a golden age--if you prefer to play Gubat Banwa without a stifling pre-Western binary, go ahead. As someone who doesn’t feel exactly in line with any binary either (especially the Western binary) I am only inclined to encourage you to do exactly that.

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Life In Settlements I have been using settlements to refer to the towns, villages, neighborhoods, and cities of The Sword Isles. This is because they are called a variety of things in The Sword Isles: in the Rajahnate it is usually termed haop, (following) and already stated, but in the Lakanate it is bayan. Settlements are neighborhoods of around 30 or more households, each one usually pledging allegiance to a Datu. Settlements can band together and work together, fusing to become larger settlements. Larger settlements are known to have more than one Datu governing them. The following is generic, it is not true for every settlement and for every culture.

Hygiene, Makeup, and Aesthetics Mornings begin at the first light of dawn, when the wind is chilly and the sun has not risen up fully just yet. They then bathe, usually in rivers, using oils and other herbal extracts to shampoo hair and apply fragrances upon their body. Hygiene is an integral part of The Sword Isles life: men and women both pluck their eyebrows to thin crescents, Lakanate and Sultanate men grow their moustaches and beards out while Confederation and Rajahnate men trim them or clip them off with clam shaped tweezers. Bodies are scrubbed with pumice and other fragrant flowers, especially among nobles, who wish to have good body odors. They clean their ears out with feathers and swabs and brush their teeth with a toothbrush made of vegetable husk, to polish and keep teeth clean. This does not make their teeth white, however: white is for the foreigners, who are like animals. Only animals have white teeth. The tawo of The Sword Isles pride themselves on stained teeth, reddened or blackened, and sometimes completely pitch or crimson. Some tawo even file their teeth to points.

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Both women and men applied makeup: from tana eyebrow paint, pupol face powder, red kamuntigi nail polish, and yellow barak root to rub on the body as a skin lotion. Some children are also given skull molding, which is done through contraptions that flattened the front of the skull, letting the front of the skull grow backwards instead of forwards. The Sword Isles beauty standards hold crescent moon-like skulls, called tinangad, to the peak of beauty, alongside broad faces and flat noses. This practice is more popular among the Rajahnate and Confederation settlements than the Lakanate and Rajahnate.

Jewelry Jewelry is an important part of The Sword Isles culture: even debtors would have bangles or anklets of gold. Some jewelry would have carnelian adornments, or pearl, or sometimes even diamonds and rubies. The most important jewelry is of course the gold accessories, which range from diadems to bangles to waist cords to sashes made of pure gold to rings to arm bands to thigh bands to belts to anklets to ear ornaments to ear piercings and even to golden pegs upon the teeth. Decorative dentistry is another important component of jewelry: those that can afford it would fill the gaps between their teeth with gold, and others would peg their teeth with gold stubs, making it so that whenever they grinned or smiled their mouth would shine like the sun, akin to the epic heroes of their tales. Most ilawod settlements are almost never built out of reach of salt water. Men and women that paddled would carve out their own paddles, and were as personal to them as their weapons.

Tattooing Tattoos are called batuk or patik, and mostly only some settlements in the Rajahnate and the Confederation used them. Professional tattoo artists are called Mambabatuk and those tattooed are called binatakan. The first tattoo is usually given as a coming of age deal, with a person’s first conquest in war or love: either by killing another or by having sex. Tattoos are then only given to those that continue to conquer, each new tattoo a burning marking of his valor. They are given piecemeal, but each one would eventually connect with other tattoos to create an intricate painting with the body as a canvas. The most valiant of them, which constituted a sort of warrior elite, will have tattoos up to the eyelids, giving them a demonic look and no doubt affect their enemies psychologically.

Working the Field During the early hours of morning, if it is planting or harvesting season, they work the fields. Not only do the peasant work the fields, but so do also the rest of the people, especially if they must work the fields of the Datu. Even nobles, Kadungganan, and freemen must pitch in, as a form of tribute to the Datu at some point during the planting or harvesting season. Most farming is done upon swiddens, using a traditional kaingin system of slash-and-burn farming. This constituted rice farming for some islands that had the conditions for it. The most common crop was the root crop, such as taro and yams. Rice, while favored, was not always in supply, and was much less available year round. In worse harvesting days, even nobility resorted to eating root crops instead of rice. Farming is stopped immediately in the sight of bad omens, such as termite mounds and squeaking snails.

Millet is also of great importance, and in some islands is the main crop, with rice not being grown at all. In addition to root crops and rice and millet, bananas and sago (a kind of starchy palm flour) were also planted in swiddens. Planting and harvesting season is not the same across the islands of The Sword Isles, due to varying exposure to monsoon winds. Time was measured through harvests: a year is defined as the time between one harvest and the next. Age therefore is measured through how many harvests a person has lived through.

Woodworking Carpenters cut their own timber. They had lore for when to cut: different species are felled during the different turns of the moon, some are more solid on the eastern side, and “male” trees are always stronger than the “females” of a species. Trees are felled with ax and bolo, split down the middle with edges, and then each half is adzed into a single plank, squared with the same tool. All carpentry and house construction are done with skillful joinery without saws or nails. This has lead to beautiful geometrical pegs and shapes made to fit entire boats and houses, usually only held together by the ingenuity of the joinery design or by thick abaca rope. Plates, bowls, spoons, and ladles, urns called bohon, coffins, and chests of all sizes are hewn from single blocks of wood, and often decorated with fine carvings. Rough leaves of the hagopit tree or biri palm are used as sandpaper, and ray fish tails or dahonan hides are used to smooth even the hardest of woods. .

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Smithing Smithing is a very valued skill, and one that even datu practice due to its prestige. Being a smith, which is called a panday, does not only mean you can create weapons and armor. Smiths can craft all sorts of things, from gold (Panday-sa-bulawan) to iron (Panday-sa-puthaw). Smithing is expensive since it would mean you would have the materials needed to craft weapons and items. It is considered the noblest trade, as usually only the wealthiest datu could even afford the raw material. Iron and such were usually not mined, but rather, stolen from raids against other polities, whether it be from within the Archipelago or from foreign influences. Regular raids to Baik Hu to gain iron to melt and use for smithing is a very common raiding impetus. A smith’s shed is called gusali. This is usually an open house beside their actual house. Here they would have their forge, made of hollowed out small tree trunks, with pistons ringed with chicken feathers set so as to collapse on the return stroke. They were alternately raised and lowered by the blacksmith’s apprentice, knwon as masaop, to produce a steady draft. Both cylinders had a bamboo outlet near the bottom which led to a common stone receptacle known as a lilong, which concetrated the draft into a charcoal fire. The anvil was a piece of iron set in a heavy wooden block, and the smiths’ tools were: palo (two-handed stone maul), a palo-palo (stone hammer), kipit (pair of tongs), and an assortment of bolos for cutting the red-hot metal. The most important tool manufactured, repaired, or retempered by the blacksmith was teh bolo. Dohong/ Dayopak was the ordinary one, while tuwad was a larger, heavier one for woodcutting. Bako for weeding or cultivating, pisaw was one with a short blade and long handle to be pressed under the arm or against the ground with the foot to leave both hands free for stripping rattan.

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Additional tools used by the smith are the abluwang (drill), barit (a rough piece of iron for whetting tools or striking with flint for fire), binkong (curved adze), bisong (knife for preparing betel nut), dallag (straight adze), garol (spurs for fighting cocks), kalob (spoon bit), sabit (billhook), salat (sickle), sipol (paring knife), tigib (chisel), tirlos (lancet for bleeding), ulok (dentist’s awl).

Goldworking Most The Sword Isles settlements and polities almost always have gold upon almost every person. Most gold was mined by placer mining: gold panning in streams or riverbeds. These placers are called dulangan, dulang being the wooden pan used. Pamiling, sifting, was the activity. Gold is bulawan, fine gold is himulawan. They had touchstones known as sanitran to test its quality, but most people could estimate content on sight. Some men would carry around little scales and weights in special pouches to make spot purchases. A panday-sa-bulawan take advantage of gold’s supremely workable material. Lumps are carved, modeled, and hammered to shape, beat out into onionskin sheets, to be cut with shears into silhouettes, wrapped into beads, or drawn into thin wires to be used in filgree work or woven into thick ropes. They soldered tiny granules together, several hundred in a square centimeter. None have surpassed The Sword Isles smiths in this manner. The Sword Isles gold is integral to this goldworking progress.

Weaving

Pottery

Weavers were usually those considered women. It is usually done through the use of backstrap looms. The warp threads were not placed in a permanent framework but rather, in one continuous loop around a loom bar held in the weaver’s lap by a strap behind her back, and another one suspended from a house beam or tree branch.

A potter’s craft is known as dihoon. They do not employ the potter’s wheel but rather, the paddle-andanvil technique.

Weaving is a normal part of housekeeping, and weavers supplied clothing. In the epic literature even in the Philippines, this is the pastime of even royal ladies. Heroes departing on ventures are ritually clothed with magical raiments and garments by their mothers and sisters. Cotton and abaca are both exports here. Baik Hu called Ba-e abaca yu-da, or jute, in the thirteenth century. Wives of householding oripun are required to spin cotton, supplied to them by their masters. Paid workers are employed as domestic weavers.

The common cooking pot is daba/koron. Widemouthed jars are bogoy, and flat pans for cooking are balanga. Banga water jars are shaped like porcelain jars. Dinner plates are Baikhan porcelain, however: pingan lasa are large ones, lampay are small ones, and siwit are little ones like sauce dishes. Baikhan jars are known as ang-ang, those used for pangasi alcohol are gining. Linoping are big ones with ears for handles, so called because they look like men tattooed all over. Hinalasan are dragon jars, so called because of the serpent done in high relief on their sides. Tinampilak are large black jars, tuytuy are small black ones. Kabo are blue and white jarlets, often used for tea and carrying waters

Tying fibers together with fine knots to produce threads is the first task taught to young girls. Cotton is a standard part of blankets. Cloth straight from the loom--whether they be cotton or abaca--are soaked in lime, sometimes dyed, and then cudgeled to soften. Dyestuffs are red sibukaw, intensified by nino wood, indigo tagum, yellow ginger root known as dulaw, kasuba a kind of saffron, and an impermanent black dye known as tina. Dyed thread is used to insert colored stripes in plain cloth, including imported silk and sometimes even threads of gold. The most elexant textile, considered to be a monopoly among those of Gatusan and Apumbukid, is pinayusan. It is woven of abaca fibers hand-selected for both their whiteness and hair-thin structure. It is then tie-dyed by binding little pinches of cloth, leaving a fine flowered pattern in natural color on a field of deep red. It can be made to make pudong as thin as gauze.

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Seasons of The Sword Isles In most islands, the agricultural season began when the Constellation of Boiling Lights appeared in the night sky. Swiddens are prepared during this time, and then two moons later--when the Boiling Lights are directly overhead--they would plant seeds. Those in the south waited for the Constellation of the Ballista before planting seeds, and those in the north area waited until the Constellation of the Coconut Palm. This is because of, as already stated, because of the differing monsoon winds that strike different parts of the archipelago at different times. The seasonal rotation of The Sword Isles depended on the flowering of certain trees. There are four in all: Katparasan, Kattaloto, Katlawaan, and Katkisiw, which constituted the mercurial harvesting cycle. Each season lasted for 2-3 moons each. Each of them pertained to the particular blossoming of trees: Katlawaan is when the lawaan trees blossomed, for example. This would also signal planting season. Most planting seasons in the island are during the season of Katlawaan, while those on the northern and southern extremities begin in Kattaloto and Katkisiw, respectively. At the final season, the harvesting season—the end of Katparasan for most islands, end of Katkisw for the northern islands, and the end of Katlawaan for southern islands—they end a harvesting year, and move into the next year. The first season is then used as a resting period.

Winds Of The Sword Isles The Amihan is the wind that blows from the Northeast, bringing with it warm winds and constant rains. Ships from Baik Hu, Naksuwarga, and Malirawat use this wind to travel to the isles, and it also facilitates domestic trade among The Sword Isles. The Timog trade wind is a wind that circulates throughout the archipelago during the tail end of the Habagat, around three moons before Habagat ends. Using this wind, trading and raiding is facilitated, and is an important aspect of interisland travel. It is the third major wind in the archipelago. Between the Habagat and Amihan winds, there are two other winds that blow: Kanay the South Chill Wind, and Iphag the Northern Wind after that. The Iphag Wind is known to have been the wind coming from caverns deep in the earth, seemingly from the World Below, bringing with it haunting wailing gales and warm winds.

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Sailing Water is the lifeblood of The Sword Isles. From the rivers that wind up to the upland societies, and down to the seas that spread its arms in both a beautiful and terrifying embrace. When in The Sword Isles, look for no roads or trade paths: it is the water that provides movement. This is why there is no need for wheeled carriages during this time: the ships that shipbuilders create are more than capable of bringing anything they wish to any part of the island, from coconuts to elephants. Sailors in the islands of The Sword Isles are almost never out of sight from land, and thus they rely on landmarks and piloting instead of celestial observations. The waters between islands are a means to connect, and not separate, the differing polities and societies of The Sword Isles. Shipbuilders are known to be usually very rich, and datu are known to be shipbuilders as well. A wide variety of ships sail across The Sword Isles waters: from the single canoe baroto, to the large merchant biroko, to the outrigger warships of biray and karakoa. Among the Lakanate the trading galyon ship, stolen from the Pale Kings, has already arisen to dominance and has led to further trade among the region. A few examples of boats... 1.

Balutu. Made usually out of a single log. Dugout canoe. Might or might not have outriggers.

2.

Biroko. A kind of boat with high sides, large sails and no outriggers. Used for cargo.

3.

Biray. A large outrigger ship with multiple washboards for carrying even more cargo (which, remember, includes debtors). Will usually have painted and colorful prows.

4.

Karakoa. Similar to the Biray, but larger and can carry up to forty warriors on each side. It had large outriggers whereupon rowers would sit upon. Its prow was decorated and intricately painted, and would have tall staffs of brilliant plumage (sombol on the prow, tongol on the stern). Lantaka, swivel guns, were commonly placed on its sides to attack. It also had an elevated fighting deck amidship.

5.

Daya. Flat open ships, similar in shape and appearance to Chinese sampan.

6.

Galyon. Stolen design from the Pale Kings. Slow but can carry lots of cargo. Reminiscent of Spanish galleons.

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Food Most food is made in iron stoves and pots, wherein they boil chicken, fish, octopus, squid, pig, deer meat, goat meat, and more foodstuffs that could be eaten. Fishermen and Hunters bring back their catch with them at the end of the day, and freshly caught catch is almost always cooked and eaten immediately.

Hunting Hunters use hunting dogs to hunt down wild boar and deer, and chase them into balatik traps: bamboo balistas that could skewer entire human bodies. Using these strategies they capture large games easily. Fishermen use traps at the mouths of rivers, as well as cast wide nets while out in the sea to catch fish and other game. For fish in streams, they would harpoon it, and for larger fish such as whale sharks, they would hunt it down and bleed it out with serrated harpoons.

Alcohol and Drinking Alcohol is almost never drunk alone, except for those alcoholics. Alcohol is stored in large porcelain jars, as is water, which preserves a certain amount of chill. Alcohol in porcelain jars would ferment and then be drunk straight through reed straws. Imagine a single large porcelain jar, with multiple reed straws poking out of it. These straws would be drunk communally between friends, although they usually never shared straws. Pangasi is rice wine stored in these jars. Kabarawaan is a kind of wood mixed with honey and drunk in a shared porcelain jar. Intus is sugarcane juice. Tuba is made from the sap of wild trees. Alak is anything made with a still and drunk in small jarlets. Drinking is an important social norm in The Sword Isles. Drinking is usually done outside of the house, with a group of friends, and anyone is welcome to join. It begins with the agda, which is a sort of ceremony to persuade a person or the diwata to take the first drink, before beginning the drinking.

Faith and Religion in the Sword Isles The Sword Isles is pierced through by a multiple faiths and religions. It is, however, pierced through with a belief in the living thoughts of things not usually seen as living. These are the spirits, the little gods. The following are known languages of the Sword Isles. Aimastran - Worships the Bleeding God, who gaves His Son to die for our Sins. Brought to the Isles by Issohappa. Sampalataya - The indigenized version of Aimastra, which worships the almighty Makagagahum, who protects the world as Makagagahum, and will annihilate it at the end of the Festival of the Longest Night as Makaobus. Syncretizes anitu with Aimastran. Anitu - The most common religion. Less of an organized religion and a collection of superstitions, rites, and beliefs in the very real living spirits that live in the wind, the trees, in everything. Each anitu culture worships their own pantheon of gods. Ashinin - Based off the Ashinin word, which means “One Million Million”, which comes from the Indr Subcontinent. Believes that there are a thousand thousand gods and that the true reality is the All Pervading Soul, known as the Atman. Annuvaran - Built by the buddha of this Trichiliocosm, a warrior-priest named Annuvar. Annuvar Buddha preaches sunyata and the precepts of compassion, and advocates violence that ends violence. Bulanan - Also known as Bulanan or Bulanism. The worship of Goddess, Baginda Sumongsuklay. Alata Baginda! Gave all her teachings to the slave-warrioress turned Ultimate Prophet Sihkandag. Teaches the Divine Striving and ultimate humility for Goddess. Preaches that dying in Lunar Goddesses’ name invites one to final bliss. Akai Bulanan is very much syncretized with anitu. Jinn and other gods live alongside Baginda as ancestor spirits but are strictly not worshipped. Sword Isle Bulanan have removed all traces of dragon and hornbill art from their archietcture. Rusunugan Anitu - An offshoot of Anitu that syncretizes Ashinin and Annuvaran beliefs. Believes in the importance of merit and righteousness, the belief in reincarnation, and the cycle of suffering must be escaped from to achieve Liberation (Glory for many).

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VIII: Running The Game This section focuses on the moves, principles, agendas, and tools to run a game of Gubat Banwa successfully. As an Umalagad, one must remember that you are one at your core another player as well, which is why non-Kadungganan characters are monikered Umalagad Characters, as they represent characters that are simply role-played by you, as opposed to the Kadungganan. This song is split into four parts: your Principle, your Convictions, your Techniques, and your Characters (including Enemies). This is a section worth reading even for Kadungganan, especially if you’re playing in Solo Play or Co-Op Play.

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Running The Game

Umalagad Basics

They will not tell tales about your ability to live comfortably: only those brave enough and strong enough to step into the light of the sun will be remembered even when the Archipelago succumbs to the violence it has wrought.

0 ...describe the situation of the Kadungganan. 0 ...react to the Kadungganan properly through the use of your Harmonies. 0 ...follow the rules and make rulings. 0 ...create combat scenarios and both run and roleplay as the non-player characters, known as Umalagad Characters. 0 ...follow your Principles in responding to the actions of the Kadungganan. 0 ...prepare and use your preparation. Sometimes you will know things that the Kadungganan don’t know. Use that to your advantage to set up your Techniques and to stick close to your Convictions.

Your connection to your sword, your love for your settlement, your pride for your son, your unrequited love for a lover that no longer loves you... these are the things that run the lifeblood of a Gubat Banwa game, the reason for all the Venturing, the impetus for all the drama, the thing that frames and gives context to the intense tactical combat.

As a Umalagad, you are a player with a different set of rules and responsibilities. You...

Principles “Sing unto us the broken songs of the past, when justice was a myth, for now justice is a lie.” - Surat 100 Gubat Banwa wears its inspirations and setting on its sleeve: precolonial Philippine fantasy, tactical combat, war drama, interpolity politicking. When you go to running a game in such a setting, it is recommended that you go through the summaries of the major setting points. However, it does bear to state the main assumptions of the game here, so as to help you on your way. War Defines the Characters. Despite the multiplicity of deities that exist in The Sword Isles, War is the only one that is truly omnipresent. It hides within the shadows of the trees, in the hooded figure standing next to your balay, in the Datu that raises his hand to grace his settlement. Every move, every word, is in danger of war, in danger of extreme violence, of blood being spilled in pursuit of freedom or peace or glory or victory. Inspired by Precolonial Philippine/Southeast Asian Life and Society. Tattooed Bisaya sea raiders raiding the shores of China. Expensive and rich Tagalog nobles trading with the nobles and merchants from Malacca and from the Datu of the Bisaya region. Bikolano bowmen striking from afar with their bamboo longbows. Balyan dancing in madtrances to call upon the ancestors to guide their paths. Wealthy datu lords reigning over their followers and settlements, gathering them up to raid a settlement that has slighted them. These are just some things that have happened in Precolonial Philippines that inspired the totality of Gubat Banwa. This focus on raiding and guerrilla tactics, and probably smaller scale warfare is perfect for the tactical combat focus, and the exaltations of warrior braves in the battlefield gives itself perfectly to the warrior hero genre that Gubat Banwa seeks to emulate. Larger than life and Dramatic. Passions are always at an all time high in Gubat Banwa. Love can rend battlefields, hatred can break kingdoms, revenge can sunder entire bloodlines. In the putrid lands of bloodshed, your emotions--the scream of your soul--is the only thing important.

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Relationships help fill out and shape the Kadungganan, help them give themselves to a cause much larger than they are, or to a cause too intensely personal. Facilitate A Good Time An important part of this is to have a baseline and foundation with your players as to what a good time or fun means in the context of your own game. Perhaps they really like complicated puzzle-combats? Maybe they’re really into the setting and want to live through it? Maybe they enjoy the strange politicking of the people? Others treat the game as a social encounter, and are wont to doing other things while other players are taking their Beat in combat. If that’s the good time you all have set up, be sure to keep to it. Let the players have fun. Once you’ve set it up and everyone is on board, play close to it as much as possible. Stick True To The Fiction Fiction, in the context of Gubat Banwa, is whatever is happening in the game in that moment. Fiction comes with it a set of pre-established norms and expectations: of course a swarm of bees can’t be tripped down! Or maybe your dagger was poised so perfectly, it should kill the hapless, unarmored princess. Stick to whatever makes sense in the Fiction, which is usually what common sense dictates you. This way, you can be sure to hew close to the collaborative story you’re telling and not bog down the game with strange rulings and trying to figure out the lore and physics of a fantasy setting. Tell A Story Together I wrote the umalagad as a role to hone in the fact that you are also another player. You’re not some grand storyteller or narrative controller, you’re a player, a singer, that simply reacts and narrates the consequences of the other player’s actions. Of course, this would encompass entire states potentially being appalled at something one of the Kadungganan said during a Feast, all the way to a man falling in love with something a Kadungganan said a few years ago. Try to lean into the drama and tragedies of war when telling the story with your characters.

Running The Game

Lean Into The Drama

The World Moves Without Them

Gubat Banwa is a game about people filled with interpersonal drama and violent melodramatic interactions. Bastard sons, forgotten lovers, once-bestfriends-turned-sworn-enemies, revenge tales, wives left for dead only to return with a vengeance. Use tropes you know from melodramatic period dramas, whether they be from Southeast Asian sources (Telenobelas), East Asian sources (K-Dramas and Anime), or even Western drama. A Gubat Banwa game without interpersonal war drama is not a Gubat Banwa game.

This is also integral to creating the sense of a living world, which can be used to great effect for Gubat Banwa campaigns. While the Kadungganan are out Venturing, fighting against political enemies, perhaps their allies are assassinated by a third party who have held a grudge against them? Maybe as the Kadungganan travel across the forest, a huge atrocity is performed somewhere else in the vast jungle, which causes the yawa, the malevolent spirits of nature, to attack all mortals that they can see? The world does not revolve around the Kadungganan. It moves on without them. Think offscreen.

Address the Kadungganan, Not The Player This one is easy enough to understand and follow: address the name of the character that your player is playing as and not the player directly. This will help them get into the mindset of their character easier. It’s a subtle but great trick. Uphold The Tragedies of War The Sword Isles is a war torn land. Thus, it is up to you to make sure that the Kadungganan see this as true: show burned down villages, ships that have been wrecked and plundered, crying men and women fleeing into settlements as refugees, chattel captives being brought in by the warriors of a chief. Mothers weeping for the sons they have lost, brothers grieving for the sisters that never shall return, buried unjustly into mass graves in the middle of a cliff nowhere. War is not a nice thing, and it will never be. The Kadungganan suffer from it just like the rest of the world. Every Character Has A Name And A Reason For Fighting Every being that they will encounter, whether it be in tactical violence or narrative play, has a reason why they’re fighting for their cause, or for themselves. It may be an ideology, or maybe they do it to pay back a debt, or maybe they do it as penance. Whatever it is, each combat encounter has a reason. None of them risk their lives for no reason, even if they be a yawa or undead. Never let them be a nameless casualty: even the yawa, who have a reason for being manifested in the first place. The young archer was skilled that you have slain? He was Kaba, and they were the only family of a young girl in the next settlement. The barangan sorcerer that you struck down? Her name was Humalina, and she was the only one taking care of a settlement that has lost their Datu.

Exalt a Precolonial Southeast Asian World The base setting of Gubat Banwa is inspired by a noncolonized, 9th Century to 17th Century Philippines. An unsung and widely misunderstood period of our history. It was the impetus as to why I made this game in the first place. Keep it close to your heart to exalt Southeast Asian settings through Gubat Banwa, even if they aren’t Philippine. Showcase the grandeur and richness of precolonial Datu, the sophistication of social mores and taboos, the grandness of spiritual paganito seances, the reverence to natural temples such as giant strangler figs and perfectly shaped mountains, and the intense sea and land raid fighting of the warriors. This is a setting that deserves to be elevated. Let Their Kadungganan Status Be Known This plays into the Southeast Asian setting and the World Moves Without Them principles: as Kadungganan, they are high in the social hierarchy. The people would defer to their abilities, as they are literally either born or have earned their right to become the warrior-braves of the Archipelago. The common folk will bow at their presence. It is up to the Kadungganan how to react. Additionally, Kadungganan have a reason for their prestige. They are warriors that can do mindblowing feats of prowess in the battlefield. Let them do so. Let Combat Tell A Story The structure of combat in this game means that it will take up a significant chunk of the session’s game time. This means that when combat happens, give it significance and plot relevance. Try not to do random encounters: every combat encounter should be for a reason: maybe the Datu was blasphemed, or an enemy settlement’s assassins ambush the players in their travel to show them that a settlement wants them dead, or the players fight for the honor of their comrade. Every instance of tactical violence should be significant: attacks are the words, damage is the strength of their ideals, their movement across the battlefield is their conviction to fight. Additionally, not every instance of fighting has to be tactical combat: remember that tactical combat only triggers when violence is inevitable between two or more sides and they’re ready for it. A duel does not have to be tactical combat, it can be a Moon. Punching someone can be a simple roll.

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Running The Game

Running The Game

Running the game as a Umalagad can be a daunting task. Fear not, however, and rely on your players to work with you. You don’t have to put up a veneer of “planned this all along!” Remember, you are just as much a player as the Kadungganan. To help you in setting up and running the game however, here are some pointers.

Prep Safety

Once you have all the players on board with the premise of Gubat Banwa: “A tactical combat and war drama Tabletop Roleplaying Game of warrior-braves surviving in a war torn land inspired by Precolonial Philippines”, the next thing you should consider is the players’ safety. At the very least, use Lines and Veils, the X Card, and the Oks Sign for most of the things in Gubat Banwa. Gubat Banwa can be prone to much violence, which can include horrific war crimes and mutilation. Read up on the following safety tools below: X-Card is the easiest to implement. Simply put a card or paper with an X on it and put it where everyone can reach it. If a scene is uncomfortable, touch the X card to change the scene by either skipping it or changing it. In online games, you can simply chat the X sign or make it with your hands. It was developed by John Stavropoulos: http://tinyurl.com/x-card-rpg Lines and Veils: Lines are hard boundaries that exclude specific content from the game, no questions asked. This could include anything, but common lines are children being harmed, rape or sexual violence, or racial discrimination. Veils are softer limits where the player is ok with it being included in the game but it isn’t explicitly described. Things that are specified as veils will be hand-waved without going into detail or happen off-screen, like the fade-to-black sex scenes in a PG movie. Consider writing this down on an anonymous list. The Oks Sign is a simple sign with the “OK” hand sign, which all the players can use when wanting to do something or attempt something during a scene. If all the players reply with an OK, that’s a sign that the scene can be pushed further.

The First Seßion

The first session, which might also be what others call a Session Zero, is probably the session where you help guide the players through creating their own Kadungganan. While reading the entire book isn’t a prerequisite for this, it will help, and at least have a firm grasp of the core rules, the difference between drama mode and tactical violence, and the flow of drama into combat into drama and consequence. During the first session, set the base expectations for the game. This is important: some Gubat Banwa games can focus on exploration, others can be hardened war period games, and even others can be romance period drama with some intense action scenes in between. It is important to set this down, perhaps consolidate it into a single sentence. Don’t stress out too much during the first session, and try not to plan everything ahead. Only after you did the first session, set boundaries and expectations, and get a feel for the group, should you start actually preparing a bit more.

What to Prep?

When you do get time to prep, don’t sweat it either. Don’t try to make a grand narrative or a huge story with plot beats and proper pacing and ups and downs and a threeact structure--you’re playing a game here, not writing a novel! Instead, when prepping, take into account the world that you’re running in. What cool things you want the players to eventually be able to do. What the NPCs are doing and what they’re planning on doing. Always think offscreen, that’s the secret to making a world feel alive. One of my favorite tricks to know how to prep (as you shouldn’t be prepping for every situation, but rather, for what the Kadungganan expect and/or want to see) is that you ask the Players the question: “What do you want to see in the game?” This is usually asked during the first session, part of the establishing of expectations for the game. Have them fill up a list of around one to three things. Tell them that it’s all right to send them over a private message and it doesn’t have to be during the first session. The trick, of course, is to give them what they want. So you prep around those things. Three is a good number, since with the expected number of players for Gubat Banwa, that can mean anywhere from 12 to 15 things that you can pepper in your sessions. And remember: you, the Umalagad, are a player too. You get to answer these as well. Another trick that is connected to the above is more related to your immediate prep. Whenever you’re prepping, ask your players through a message or whatnot: “What does your Kadungganan plan to do next session?” Any answer is fine, as you can fit the next session’s prep around that. With that known and done, you can read up on the lore of Gubat Banwa or play around with the mechanics, make NPCs, plan events that will happen in the world, or prepare an event line that will eventually end in something the players want to see.

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Running The Game

When preparing, make sure to... ...keep track of the world. Know what’s going on, and use that to your advantage. Have the world constantly be moving, use things that might happen whenever your players don’t expect it: prep for random events such as landslides or demon gorilla attacks, not necessarily combat encounters. ...make NPCs, not just Foes. Make them interesting, give them a single personality trait and a single quirk if you expect them to last longer than usual. Give them a unique thing that lets them stand out from the rest: this can be a physical tell such as weird hair, or even an important relationship, such as them being the brother of the Datu the Kadungganan serve. ...listen to your players, and form your prep around them. If your players aren’t planning on going into a deep dark cave next session, don’t prepare a cave exploration map! Instead, if they want to go to the wedding feast, prepare NPCs for that wedding feast, strange encounters that might happen, and maybe even a twist! Get the players jogging, get them reacting: that’s your job.

What I’m trying to do is rid yourself of those expectations. Try to play the game, enjoy it. Make NPCs that you’re inspired to make, entice your players to get invested in them, get them invested by making them NPCs they would care about: young idealistic boys and girls who want to change the world, beaten old men that have a soft spot for flowers, strong women that rule their own settlements. Make the world receptive to them, let them talk about the world. Now this advice won’t work for everybody, I’m sure, and I don’t even think a lot of people that will be getting this game will be even reading this section (since the main draw of this game is probably either the setting and/or the tactical Fantasy combat), but I’ll be laying down the things that I’ve been doing that I hope will be able to steer people that want to run War Drama in Fantasy Precolonial Philippines in the right direction. Improvising

...take a break. Sometimes, you don’t even have to prep! The players will ride out the game with you, and you can hand them some of the responsibility of creating interesting NPCs! Ask them sometimes what weird interesting thing an NPC has, or a secret that they harbor. You are a player too, so remember to have fun.

Perhaps one of the most d