Wise Woman

*"You have no place here, this is women’s business."*

## Basic/Special

(RotIQ) Most Ungol communities are tended by a krug of dark-shawled wise women. These no-nonsense matriarchs guard uncounted generations of oral traditions and tribal secrets. This knowledge is put to good use tending the sick, aiding childbirth, advising local leaders, placating the spirits of the land, and warding their folk against the taint of Chaos. Wise women krugs gather in specially decorated kibitkas that men are forbidden to enter; there, they share lore and discuss matters of importance. Girls who demonstrate “the sight” are interviewed in these tents to determine their suitability to join the wise women, an experience that can terrify even the strong of mind.

**Special Requirements:** You must be an Ungol female to enter this career.

### Secondary Profile

**Skills:** Academic Knowledge (History or Spirits) (Int), Charm (Fel) or Intimidate (S), Command (Fel), Common Knowledge (Kislev or Troll Country) (Int), Consume Alcohol (T) or Gossip (Fel), Heal (Int), Magical Sense (WP), Perception (Int), Performer (Storyteller) (Fel), Prepare Poison (Int) or Trade (Apothecary or Herbalist) (Int), Speak Language (Ungol) (Int)

**Talents:** Coolheaded or Savvy

**Trappings:** Wise women are gifted healers, so they always have at least one antitoxin kit, healing draught, a healing poultice, and a skin of koumiss to ease other sorts of hurts. They are also quite superstitious and, thus, carry a number of small charms that include bits of bone, locks of hair, unusual stones, and so on. They mark their station with the tell-tale shawl, a beautifully woven length of cloth they wear draped from their heads or around their necks.

### **Career Exits**

Demagogue, Hag Witch, Hedge Witch, Politician, Steppes Nomad

## Mother Ursk

Mother Ursk is a character often spoken of in the tales and stories of the Ungol. It is said in some stories that her Sight was so powerful that she could sense the taint of Chaos in someone just by hearing their name. She was also reputed to have been able not only to detect the Sight in young girls but even awaken it by knocking them on the head.

One infamous custom she is reputed to have started is the practise of kissing someone accused of a crime to try and taste the lies on their lips. Of course should they shy away from the hag’s hairy wrinkled face then surely they must have something to hide. Even today among the Ungol this is known as Mother Ursk’s Kiss and greatly feared by both the guilty and the innocent alike.

## Rituals of Wise Women

Wise women are pillars of their Ungol communities, holding together their people with sage advice and stern looks. With the aid of hags, wise women also perform ancient Kislevite rituals to appease the spirits and guide people through their lives. Two such rituals include the Becoming and the Mark.

**The Becoming:** This is a highly secretive ritual where a young girl suspected of having the Sight is tested. The girl is whisked away from her home by a wise woman, with no chance to bid her parents goodbye, and taken to a remote cave or tent somewhere in the oblast. There her captor will subject the girl to tests of physical, mental and magical endurance to see if she is strong enough to be initiated as a wise woman herself. Those who fail and survive are returned to their family, though they are never quite the same again.

**The Mark:** Wise women are known to place marks, curses, or the evil eye on those who have crossed them or worked against their tribe. This ritual begins with the setting of the sun and requires the presence of at least one person who was wronged by the marked one.

The wronged persons will then list their grievances, sometimes long into the night, whereupon the wise women will chant the marked one’s name and call down their curse upon them. No one knows exactly how the curse works, but it is no coincidence that the marked ones experience extremely bad luck in short order.