Vashar

*(Culture- Vashar, individual- vasharan, plural- vasharans)*

The Vashar are a human race that descends from The First Human, who wedded a demon against the will of their creators and stole an ember from the divine fire. They are known to be cruel and evil, but those who deal with them often find them to be strangely amiable to outsiders, reserving their violence and cruelty for their fellows, and that often the most evil thing about them is their dealing with demons and other foul things.

## The First Human

If they had a name, it was Human. They needed no other because there were no others of their kind. The gods made them to serve them and they did so without question for thirty times three-hundred years. They loved their creators. They toiled at their command. They venerated them every waking moment. They even worshiped them in their dreams. Their whims were the beginning and end of their world and they were happy, at first.

Over time the First Human grew lonely. The gods had each other for companionship. The animals had companions. Even the demons in the Abyss had companions. Yet they were all alone. And so it came to pass that the First Human asked the gods to give them a companion.

The Wise One heard their plea and said that the gods should create another. But the other gods were filled with rage and would not hear him. "Are we not good enough for you?" they asked their Human. "Don't you love us?" "Is our infinite grace insufficient for you?"

Cowed, the First Human fell to their knees and professed their love to their creators. "You are more than enough" they said. "You're are all I'll ever need." In their heart they felt sadness. They didn't understand the emotion then, for they had never felt it before, but it would grow.

For thirty times three-hundred years they toiled for the gods. They venerated the gods. They worshipped them. But every day the sadness grew in their heart.

## Vasha

One day, while tending the fields of ambrosia that stretched from shore-to-shore in the before-age as was their duty, the Human found a woman. By the standard of Second Men, she was ugly beyond imagining. To simply look upon the Obyrith would shatter the soul of a lesser being, but the First Human was more perfect than the imitations that came after them. Rather than being repulsed by the demon as an inferior man would be, they felt compassion.

"I am Vasha," she said. "I have been overthrown by my evil slaves and cast up into the harsh light of the gods. Now I shall surely die."

Her wounds were great and her poison life-blood spilled out into the ground. It withered the divine crops and created a dead-zone where nothing would ever grow again.

The Human knew that she would die if they did not save her. They also knew that the gods would want her to die. Her very existence was anathema to them and she undid their works simply be being. They knew this, and they acted. For the first time in their long life they called upon the gods power to serve their will alone and her wounds were healed. The gods knew immediately.

"Slay her," they commanded them. "She is evil. She will bring ruin to all of our works."

They refused. The gods raged.

"Slay her." "No." "Slay her." "No." "Slay her." "Never."

The gods tried to smite the First Human, but Vasha hid them in the dark places where they cannot see. As the gods rage above them, they grew to love each other.

For three years the gods unleashed their fury upon the Earth and for three years the two loved each other in their hiding place. The Wise One intervened and calmed his siblings and they returned to Heaven unsatisfied.

The First Human remained in hiding for another three years and when they came out they carried three horns. " I repent!" they cried. "I have slain Vashar and brought her horns as tribute. Please forgive me."

"See," the Wise One said to his brothers. "I told you that they'd come back."

The gods accepted the demon's horns and forgave their wayward creation, but they made them suffer a terrible penance. The gods agonized them for three years and three years more before they allowed them to return to their duties.

They served the gods faithfully for another thirty-three years and then disappeared. "Where did they go?" the gods asked. "Where is our Human?"

"Demons are vile things," The Wise One said, "but they understand revenge. One of her kin must have unmade them in anger." The other gods saw the wisdom in his words and agreed. Then The Wise One went to stoke the Divine Fire, lest his siblings see that an Ember was missing, while the other gods went back to their bickering.

Eventually the gods forgot about the Human, all but The Wise One who saw the Human steal the Ember but was wise enough to keep his mouth shut.

## The City That Was

The First Human used the stolen Ember to burn an layer of the Abyss. In the blink of an eye, the Divine Fire reduced infinity to ash. From that ash the First Human and their mutilated demon bride constructed the City That Was. For three-hundred times three-hundred years it was a paradise where no one suffered and all were happy.

It couldn't last. The gods discovered their creation's treachery and he could not hide from them. Their soul was destroyed and so was their wife. The City was returned to ash. Some of the First Children escaped the destruction and hid, Vasha taught them about the secret places where the gods cannot see. Then the gods decreed that all created things shall die in time and the First Children began to wither in their hiding places.

*--Written by Hyzmarca, on The Gaming Den*

## Physical Description

Vasharans are broadly indistinguishable from other humans save for cultural affectations, but their unique heritage has left its mark. They exhibit a range of skin colors--The First Human was a neutral gray color, but the introduction of demon blood into their children caused them to be born with in many different skintones, even some which don't appear in other humans. Their hair likewise grows in many shades, including those not seen in humans. The First Human was as a giant, but their children are merely often tall, standing 6 feet on average, but due to the chaos of their mother, much shorter is not uncommon, and there are quite a few who near 8 feet tall.

What does distinguish the Vasharan however are their ritualistic scars, earned through the many rites of passage in their younger years and various profane rituals which they partake in throughout their lives. Vashar women are usually shaved bald, with bright red marks covering their scalps, while men bear their scars on their bodies. Tattoos are likewise extremely important in Vashar culture, with many tattoos being established symbols of deeds and statuses.

## Personality

The core of Vashar philosophy is that to exist is to suffer--whether that be a living existence in the realm of mortals, a existence in the afterlife among the gods, or an undead existence anywhere. They believe that suffering is the result of the capricious and out-of-touch gods who created it, and that any state of being will be one of suffering, only complete non-existence can be free of suffering. Given that they believe all existence is suffering, they also believe that suffering breeds strength and that the defining trait of their culture is the endurance of unjust suffering.

Oddly, this means that, counter to what might be expected of an evil culture the vasharan do not torture their enemies, and instead kill quickly and cleanly, or, if they must hold a prisoner, provide them with every comfort they can. The vasharan believe that to endure suffering is a privilege, not a punishment.

They reserve it for their children.

## Sex, Gender, and Sexuality Among the Vashar

The First Human is believed to have not had a gender, and in so far as they had a sex, they would be intersex. It is believed by modern vasharans that their ancestor was whole, which is to say, possessing all sexual characteristics of man and woman. Between this and the chaos of the demons who first mated with the First Human and their children, there is a great variety among the sexual characteristics of modern vasharans--male, female, mixtures of every conceivable form between them, and some even some vasharan who are devoid of sexual characteristics. As their founding ancestors were a whole human created before the sexes were divided and a demoness who may easily have had, herself, any conceivable manifestation of sex, the Vashar do not have a concept of gender roles as other races do. They do have *some* sense of masculinity and femininity, but they don't believe that one is better than the other, or even that there's any particular reason for these aesthetics to correlate to something as trivial as an individual's genitals. Likewise they see no reason that a person should be restricted to only one of these aesthetics, and that there is nothing at all notable about a person presenting masculinely one day, femininely another, mixing the two as they desire, or even eschewing such concepts entirely.

Similarly, as The First Human was, as the inferior second races might say, Wholly Man and Wholly Woman, and Vasha was a demoness more by convention or presentation than necessarily any biological fact (demons, as creatures of chaos formed from the planestuff of the Abyss, take a rather pick-and-mix approach to sex), Vashar laugh at people who try to characterize the First Couple as "man and wife," or who assert that male and female couplings are any more natural than other arrangements. Indeed, the ancient Vashar city of Hetrot was freed from the tyranny of the cult of Orcus and thereafter ruled over by wedded brothers, who used their marriage and consumation of it as symbolic refusal of the idea that only one could rule, and a distraction under which their armies could slaughter the tyrannical priests. This brother-couple then went on to add the queen of Parnot to their marriage in a political alliance that sealed a plot to act together and slay the senate of the city-state of Jensot through similar subterfuge. Vashar marriages might be between two men, two women, two people who completely eschew gender, or any number of people who each fit somewhere in the vast spectrum of gender. For all the evils vasharans are said to indulge in, they do not distribute them based on concepts such as sex, gender or sexuality.

## Society

### The Three Horns of Vasha

There are three major aspects of vasharan society, the precepts which are the essence of being vasharan, they are Urru (defiance), Hetreno (suffering), and Vashene (closest translation- adoption).

#### Urru

Urru means defiance in Vasharan, and refers to the vasharan opposition to the gods and their works. To practice Urru means both to actively oppose the gods, and, more generally speaking, their pawns, which is to say clerics and other god-serving mortals, but also to defy the many ways the gods attempt to punish the first human and Vasha's progeny. Vasharans are expected to be able to survive in a hostile world, feeding themselves in the wild and protecting themselves from hostile beasts and monsters, defending themselves from those who would slay them, and defending Vashar culture from those who would destroy it. The final piece of Urru is refusing the divine realms of the gods and the punishment meted out upon vasharan souls therein, by containing the souls of the dead within soul gems by which they can then be transferred to the Ilkanac.

#### Hetreno

Hetreno is the Vasharan word for suffering. By this tenet, vasharans mean the acceptance of suffering as a part of life, and more specifically undergoing some of the many torturous rites of Vashar culture. Beyond these rites, vasharans do not generally seek out suffering any more than other people do, though they do have notably higher tendency to undergo body modification and similar activities even apart from their rites.

A short list of Vasharan mortification rights can be found here.

#### Vashene

in the Vasharan tongue, Vashene is an incredibly complex term that encompasses adoption, conversion, alliances and many other things, but it is generally translated as adoption for ease's sake. Vashene, as one of the Horns of Vasha, is the practice of taking in those sympathetic to oneself and vasharan culture and making them a part of it if they wish to be.

### Vasharan Society Overall

Vashar society seems cruel and uncaring. This is not the case. Vasharans truly love their children. But Vashar culture holds that one cannot be a part of their society without enduring pain and humiliation. Most of their rites of passage involve ritualized torture, refined to the point where great, indescribable pain is inflicted with no risk of death or permanent injury. Debilitating injury is incredibly rare, and death during these rituals is unheard of. Adult vasharans believe this torture is necessary to truly understand what it is to be Vashar, and their children look forward to it with an eager dread. Each torture brings increasing respect and privilege in their society.

On the note of parenthood- Vasharans place no value or importance on biological parentage. They adopt as freely as they couple, even adopting children of other races. They practice a concept they refer to as "spiritual parentage," believing that a child's soul is malleable, and the shaping of that soul is vastly more important than the creation of their body. So too, every person in a marriage is equally the parent of any child of that marriage, regardless of whose specific seed or womb created the child. It is not important how a child is born, when it comes to whether the adult they become is Vashar, what is important is what rites of passage they have endured. (See Vashene above).

### Law

Law among the Vashar is not formally codified. Instead, they use common law and tradition, taking minor disputes before qualified lay arbiters, and major transgressions are handled by professional judges or the unruly mob. Depending on the location and who gets to the transgressor first. Serious transgressions, such as rape outside of approved rituals or premeditated murder, are punished by a quick efficient death, usually by a simple sharp knife, and lesser transgressions are usually punished through fines or proportionate compensation.

Non-vasharans can usually visit large Vashar cities without fear of being targeted for not being vasharans, being extended equal protection (assuming peacetime), but isolated communities may have no particular qualms about a vasharan killing a second person for simple entertainment. That said, vasharans do not practice slavery, at all, and a vasharan who enslaves someone will quickly be slain by their own fellows. Vashar culture holds an innate ancestral abhorrence at the very concept of slavery.

## Relations

While the Suloise claim they are superior to other races, the Vashar know it. They are descended from the First Human, and are therefore the result of the gods' first and most pure creation, and the later races were created to be slaves to the gods, whose souls will break when they learn the truth. However, the Vashar believe that it is not birth which makes a vasharan, but the endurance of suffering. Any mortal being might be transformed into a pure vasharan through suffering, and the fact that these people do not want this is held as proof of their inferiority and indoctrination. They would kill these poor mortals as a mercy, but that would merely further enslave them to the gods, and therefore, the only mercy the Vashar can give to the second races is the destruction of their souls.

Despite this view of their own superiority, the Vashar do trade and otherwise deal with the second races, but view the obliteration of the gods and their worshippers as a long-term goal.

## Alignment

The Vashar prioritize the self before all. But they also prioritize the family before all but the self, the clan before all but the family, the city before all but the clan, and so on. To be a vasharan is to look out for oneself first and foremost, and ensure one's own survival, well-being and interests through any means necessary--including friendship and love. Therefore, Vashar culture is evil, but this does not mean they will mindlessly slaughter all they cross.

Vashar do have their traditions which are important parts of their culture, but they believe that each individual person must decide for themselves how to live, and accept the consequences of that. They believe that any man who tries to dictate how others live is the enemy of those they dictate to, and that it is only right for those people to kill him. As such, vasharans are commonly Chaotic.

## Vashar Lands

The original cities of the Vashar lie on the Abyss, but they do have cities on the Prime Material Plane. The most notable of these can be found in the Rift Canyon. From there, Vasharan have spread throughout the Flaeness, but their settlements are mostly found in The Bandit Kingdoms, Pomarj, Bone March and the Barrens.

## Religion

The Vashar hatred of gods verges, itself, on a religious fervor, but whereas most religions reserve their hatred for rival gods, the vashar hate *all* gods. Beyond this, they also greatly revere their ancestors, most of who's souls rest within the great soul gem Ilkanac in the hidden city of Hetrot, where they can be free of the torment of the afterlife. In this soul haven, Vashar ancestors can be communed with through magic, and offered comfort or asked for advice.

Vashar temples are not places of worship, but rather shops where any manner of symbolic item might be bought, from clothes, money, food, homes, sex toys, books, tools and anything else one might conceive of. When these items are ritually burned in magic fires within the temples spiritual copies are delivered to the soul of the burner's choice within the Ilkanac. These same fires can be used to communicate with the souls, a service which the temple priests charge for by the minute, as the ghost goods are sold at cost. A long line for the fires can be found at any Vashar temple at any time of day, for there are not enough fires to satisfy all the vasharan who wish to ask the honored dead for business advice, input on their love lives, assurances, or even just ...conversations of a more intimate manner. The latter of which is generally done quite publicly, as Vashar culture has no particular sense of intimate privacy.

Vashar religion has absolutely no taboo about raising the dead, or compunction against resurrecting the dead. Those with the money to do so can pay to be resurrected at death, turned into an undead, or to resurrect long dead warriors, scientists, philosophers or celebrities for their skills.

### Vashar and Divine Magic

> *"(...) before you know where you are you're believing in gods. And then you're in trouble.*
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> *"But (gods) exist.*
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> *"That's no call to go around believing in them. It only encourages 'em.”*
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> *--Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg,* Lords and Ladies*, Terry Pratchett*
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Vasharans do not believe in the gods. They know they exist. They do not worship the gods. They hate them with all their souls. The vasharans do not hold with gaining magic through worship, and aren't particularly fond of the idea of receiving it for subservience. This gives the impression that there are no vasharan divine spellcasters, but this is not the case.

Vasharan clerics are known as Ur Priests. These clerics gain their magic through stealing it from the gods as it is transferred to their worshippers. This is a daunting task, and so true ur priests are members of a specific prestige class. However, there *are* vasharan clerics, as there is ample divine magic in the multiverse that has no one overseeing how it is distributed. Generally, clerics who channel divine magic through devotion to an *ideal*, rather than a god, are known as cause clerics. Many cause clerics truly do worship the ideal they are devoted to. Vasharan cause clerics, however, see themselves as simply devoted to their causes, at most.

However, vasharan clerics have one other option- ancestor worship. Well, they would argue that term, they respect their ancestors, and revere their cultural heroes, but they do not see it as worship. They see it as... family ties, noblesse oblige, the bonds of shared culture and goals, and a lot of other things. The exact mechanisms of how Vashar ancestors are able to provide spells to their "representatives" are unclear, but it is generally believed that as souls, unbound by their bodies, Vashar souls are able to reach out of the Ilkanac, much as the temple bonfires reach into it, and syphon ambient magic, or redirect the magic that deities send to their followers.

Vasharan can also be druids (and rangers) and spirit shamans. If anything, this is easier for them than being cause clerics, though admittedly, a completely different set of abilities. These vasharan nature-casters see nature as just as much a plaything of the gods as mortals are, and seek to liberate it from divine hands as they seek to liberate mortals from the suffering those hands cause. The main difference between vasharan druids and shamans and others is that vasharans are more likely to embrace the darker aspects of nature--rot, death, mutation, disease, and so on. In fact, vasharan druids (et al) often use necromancy, seeing it as a part of the natural world, because negative energy *is* one of the natural forces of the world, and it is what drives undead. So too, many undead have natural causes-- cannibals can rise as ghouls, those with unfinished business or who die while experiencing emotions so strong they rend the body might return as ghosts, and any creature slain by energy drain, except in more specific cases, such as vampiric feeding, rises as a wight. Vasharans who gain animal companions are drawn to predators and carrion eaters.

Vasharans may follow the path of the druid in a number of ways, but they are particularly associated with the druids known as Haruspices, who specialize in divination by sacrifice and the reading of entrails.

#### Vasharan Paladins?

It is exceptionally rare for vasharans to become paladins, for several reasons. First, most paladins serve churches and gods, which vasharans absolutely will not do (it is as much a part of being Vashar as embracing suffering, to the point that one who does is *no longer* a vasharan). However, there are paladins who do not serve gods or churches, and the Vashar *do* have a religious tradition, albeit one with no gods. The next reason is that paladins are, generally speaking, lawful good, and vasharans are, generally speaking, not. Finally, the path of the paladin is one of self-sacrifice and unwavering devotion, two things that near-alien to Vashar culture.

*However,* there are vasharans who are, if not, strictly speaking, paladins, very close to it. These near-paladins are called Ilnaar, old Vasharan for "The Loving," for they lay their lives before their companions as the First One did for Vasha.

#### Vasharan Favored Souls/Oracles?

There *have* been Vashar favored souls and oracles. Mostly, they were attempts by capricious deities to spite the Vashar, believing that a child being favored by their enemies would incite them to rash actions which could easily be turned against them. Or simply torment the chosen vasharan enough to be funny. While some such favored vasharans committed suicide, others turned the gifts pressed upon them by the gods against the givers. This happened enough that the gods learned there was nothing, in particular, to be gained in this pursuit, as even the joke grew stale when the supposed-butts of it repeatedly used the powers they never asked for to press a dagger to the gods' collective throats. Even so, from time to time, a god, usually an evil one, will grant a vasharan divine power and then attempt to point them at a rival, but doing so is regarded by the gods to be similar to setting your neighbor's house on fire over a petty feud--a disproportionate attack that endangers the entire neighborhood.

#### Vasharan Witches and Warlocks

While witches and warlocks are arcane magic users, their use of patrons to gain magic makes them worth addressing in this topic. In general, witches and warlocks do *not* gain magic from gods (that's what being a cleric is). However, to the ignorant, the relationship between witch and patron can be easily mistaken for that between worshipper and god. Vasharan, for their part, *are* cautious about entering into deals with the patrons of witches and warlocks, they know that while the relationship is one of patronage, it can all too easily lead to the expectations of worship. Most vasharans who become witches or warlocks enter deals with either Vasha or one of their own (more recent) ancestors. However, they have been known to enter pacts with the wide variety of patrons.

A vasharan witch or warlock will never enter a deal with a deity.

## Language

Vasharans all know common, learning it at an early age, as well as their own language, Vasharan. Additionally, however, they also all know the Dark Speech. While they might not necessarily all know how to evoke the magic of the Dark Speech, they do all know how to communicate with it--and in fact, it is their favorite for curses, profanity and obscenity, areas in which no other language can match it.

Vasharan has an odd relationship with gendered terms. Which is to say, they don't really use them. Instead, they have terms which denote mortal, divine, or profane status, dominant, submissive, or subjugated status, and whether the subject is favored, hated, or of no interest to the speaker. All of these can be used in incredibly subtle and metaphorical ways. All in all, this gives the impression to non-vasharans that Vasharan *does* have gendered terms along with a complex system of hierarchy and respect. Vasharans who become aware of this misunderstanding generally have a reaction ranging from offense to derisive laughter. Although it's rare that they actually educate the non-vasharans, at least in such a way that doesn't involve the non-vasharan being killed at the end of the lesson. Those who don't feel inclined to punish the non-vasharan for their impertinence in this way hate to ruin the walking joke.

## Adventurers

Every vasharan who reaches adulthood has endured more pain and suffering at the hands of their fellows than most adventurers in their twilight years have at the hands of their enemies. Compared to the literal torture of vasharan rites of passage (or even foreplay), the life of an adventurer holds no fright for a vasharan, and so many take to it very readily, no small number even cataloguing the novel torments and pains they experience, rating them compared to those they experienced as a child. Among those who adventure with a vasharan, it is often said "(w)hen the Vashar screams, you should already be in the next kingdom. You might live a little longer."

## Vasharan Traits

Vasharan are humans, and possess all the qualities of humans, except the following-

* **Bonus Feat:** Vasharans select their bonus feat from among the [Mortification], [Vile], [Fiend] and [Necromantic] feats. They do not need specific fiendish heritage or levels in a Fiend class to select [Fiend] feats, their distant connection to Vasha is sufficient. They do still need to meet the other prerequisites, however.
* **Nether Region:** Regardless of where they come from, all Vasharans may treat [Vile] feats as regional feats.
* **Languages:** Vasharans begin play speaking Common, Vasharan and the Dark Speech. In order to use the magical effects of the Dark Speech, they must still take the corresponding feat.

## Common Vasharan Regional Feats

**Abominable Form** *Vashar--* You revel in the ruination of your flesh, drawing power from your disturbing deformities, allowing you to frighten living creatures simply with your appearance.

**Abyss-Bound Soul** *Vashar--* You have pledged your immortal soul to a particular demon lord in return for a gift that aids your evil works in life.

**Apostate** *Vashar--* Your hatred of the gods cloaks you with potent resistance against their works, granting you a bonus to saves against divine spells.

**Badge of Bondage** *Bandit Kingdoms, Pomarj--* Your experiences as a slave have made you more resistant to torture and mental manipulation, granting you a bonus on Fortitude and Will saves, as well Bluff checks.

**Bareback Soul** *Rovers of the Barrens--* You're skilled at riding bareback, meaning you suffer no penalty on Riding checks when doing so, can automatically guide your mount with your knees, allowing you to use both hands while riding, and gain a bonus on ranged attack rolls while riding bareback.

**Blooded** *Bandit Kingdoms, Bone March, Pomarj, Rovers of the Barrens--* You know what it means to fight for your life, and the value of quick wits and quicker reactions when blades are bared and deadly spells chanted. Enemies find it difficult to catch you off guard, granting you a bonus to Initiative and Spot checks.

**Chosen of Evil** *Vashar--* Your naked devotion to wickedness causes dark powers to take an interest in your well-being, allowing you to mortify your flesh in exchange for a bonus you may apply to attacks, saves or checks.

**Dark Speech** *Vashar--* You know how to channel the inherent magic of the fiendish language.

**Dark Whispers** *Vashar--* By whispering fould utterances in the Dark Speech, you can drive your enemies insane.

**Mortification** *Vashar--* Your intentional self-mutilation has granted you special abilities or shaped your body.

**Disciple of Darkness** *Vashar--* Your formal supplication to a fiend grants you a small measure of power, occasionally empowering you when you perform an evil action.

**Enemy of Good** *Vashar--* You draw power from your unholy devotion, increasing your spell DCs against good creatures.

**Evil's Blessing** *Vashar--* Entities of utter evil and villainy have a stake in your survival, allowing you to gain a bonus on saves with merely a short incantation.

**Evil Brand** *Vashar--* You have physically marked yourself forever as an evil being who cares nothing for virtue, granting you a bonus to Diplomacy and Intimidate checks against evil creatures.

**Filthy Outburst** *Vashar--* You shriek a phrase in the Dark Speech to deafen or torment those around you.

**Harvester of Souls** *Vashar--* When you deliver a killing blow, you destroy both the flesh and soul of your enemy.

**Horselore** *Rovers of the Barrens--* You're good with horses, granting you a bonus to Ride and Handle Animal checks when dealing with horses, and raising their initial attitude towards you to friendly.

**Insane Defiance** *Vashar--* You adopt insanity as a shield to turn aside effects that target your mind, deflecting them to those around you.

**Jungle Fighter** *Bandit Kingdoms*-- You know how to make the most of terrain-inspired advantages when fighting in a jungle, granting you a dodge bonus to AC when fighting in such terrain.

**Landless Nobility** *Bone March--* You belong to a noble line that has utterly lost its homeland due to war, incompetence, politics or fate. Your status as a noble nonetheless grants you some measure of financial comfort, despite your lack of land, granting you maximum starting gold for your class, a bonus on Charisma-based skills made against residents of your homeland, including expatriates, and allowing you to generally find food and lodging from such people wherever you go.

**Lichloved** *Vashar--* Your intimate relationship with an undead creature has granted you a fraction of the power of an undead creature.

**Master's Will** *Vashar--* The elder evil you serve is fickle in its rewards and punishments, allowing you to beseech them for aid on an roll, at the risk of instead being striken with their disfavor.

**Mountain Fighter** *Pomarj--* You know how to make the most of terrain-inspired advantages when fighting in mountainous terrain, granting you a dodge bonus to AC in such terrain.

**Murderous Intent** *Vashar--* Your favored enemies fear your savagery and inhumanity.

**Orc Blooded** *Bandit Kingdoms, Bone March--* Somewhere in the shadowy boughs of your extended family tree is an orc. The person's influence on your heritage isn't enough to make you a half-orc, but it is enough to slightly influence your features and make you a bit more easy to anger than others, granting your darkvision, making Barbarian a favored class for you, and allowing you to count as an orc for effects related to race.

**Raider's Spirit** *Bone March, Pomarj, Rovers of the Barrens--* You're a fearless raider, granting you a bonus on Intimidation check and saves against fear effects.

**Rapscallion** *Bandit Kingdoms--* Your stunning wit improves the credulity of your lies and bluffs, allowing you to add your Intelligence bonus to your Bluff checks.

**Sacrificial Mastery** *Vashar--* You are skilled at reaping the benefits of death, granting you a bonus on rolls made in a sacrifice.

**Self Mortification** *Vashar--* Your intentional self-mutilation makes others afraid of you, granting you a bonus to Intimidate checks.

**Unspeakable Vow** *Vashar--* You have taken a vow to embody wickedness, granting you a bonus to Intimidate checks.

**Vile Ki Strike** *Vashar--* You may focus evil power into your unarmed strike, dealing vile damage with it.

**Vile Martial Strike** *Vashar--* You may focus evil power into your strikes with weapons, dealing vile damage with it.

**Vile Natural Attack** *Vashar--* You may focus evil power into your natural attacks, dealing vile damage with it.

**Vow of Decadance** *Vashar--* Your vow to indulge in every desire allows you to use drugs without fear of overdose, and with the minimum of ill-effects.

**Vow of Vengeance** *Vashar--* Filled with hate, you have made a vow to visit vengeance on those who have wronged you, granting you a bonus on damage against them.

**World Weary** *Bandit Kingdoms, Rovers of the Barrens--* Your crushed spirit makes you difficult to scare or intimidate, granting you a bonus on saves against fear, and allowing you to treat fear conditions as one rank lower.