Brotherhood of the Severed Hand
Following the Breaking, the Order of the Burning Sun began to delve unfettered into schools of magic previously frowned upon or deemed forbidden. Of particular interest was the summoning and enslavement of planar creatures, and the dark magics of necromancy.
It is these dealings that would give rise to the fearsome Sha'ir and Defilers.
Night of Death and maras q'alyad
It is believed that in their haste to uncover forbidden secrets, some of the most powerful among the Burning Sun openned a portal to a netherrealm quite beyond their control. If records are kept of the ocurrence, they have long been sequestered away, but the results were terrifying: The destruction of half of the city of Ord Mondu. Not by way of dramatic explosions or destructive force, but rather the siphoning of all life energies within the radius of the Burning Sun's tower, and the emergence of a population of undead. It is rumoured that only the interference of the Al'mustrah stopped further encroachment. In the aftermath, as part of the punishment for their foolishness, the Al'mustrah commanded that all arcanists of power have their left hand cut off. It was at the time presented to the people as retribution for lives lost, but it also impeded their growth.Rebirth
Mainly because they continued to be shielded by decree of the Al'mustrah, the re-christened Brotherhood of the Severed Hand recovered from the Night of Death and learned not only to adapt to the maras q'alyad, but to use it. Benefit from it. Today, the Severed Hand inspires dread and fear in all, and for good reason. Their organization has become brutal in its display of power, supporting some of the most despotic and corrupt regimes as they reap the rewards of people's pain. _______ NOTE: More changes to the following are to come. The Brotherhood of the Severed Hand remains to this day closely aligned with Qu'astan but has been known to send agents throughout Tor Lindon. Their aims are generally subversive, but being relatively intelligent, do not try to attract attention to themselves without first ensuring their security. Casters are expected to join the Brotherhood of the Severed Hand at the very start. The Brotherhood of the Severed Hand has not been known to accept casters from other schools, but that does not mean it has never happened. Dues must be paid, and in return they are recognized as members of a viable (if disliked) Brotherhood and are allowed to ply their trade as they would. Sorcerers in the Brotherhood of the Severed Hand have limited opportunities. They are, as already described, mistreated and hunted. As such, while they do not have to pay dues, they have access only to basic spells, feats and skills training. dues for the Severed Hand varies, but casters can expect their MONTHLY dues to be the equivalent of 10gp at level one, 30gp at level 2, 60gp at level 3, 100gp at level 4, 150gp at level 5 and so on. Failure to pay (or arrange to pay) dues can lead to an immediate cancellation of the caster's membership and a magical bounty placed on the caster's head declaring them Rogue.. Casters can also seek to become elite members of the Brotherhood. Such members are preferably specialized in a school of magic and have learned to 'Eschew Materials' as per the feat. In return, they learn to cast spells without the need for material components by 'defiling', or draining the life energy from the world around them; the Brotherhood of the Severed Hand does not teach spells from the school of Abjuration or Illusion. A generalist can cast the spells, but they will not gain them from their Brotherhood, and there are no specialist in either school from the Brotherhood. Some of the focused schools listed in the APH are allowed by the Brotherhood of the Severed Hand and will be handled on case by case basis. the ability to cast spells from one (preferably the specialized) school without components. Three times/day, the 'defiler' can create an Entropic Circle, where more life energy than required is drained from a set radius to cast their spells in order to strengthen the spell they are casting. This is an immediate effect that strengthens as the caster gains levels. For every 4 levels, the radius expands by 5' and adds one die of damage to the caster's maximum (thus at level 8, the radius drained would be 10' and would add 2 extra die of damage to the total). All smaller vegetation caught within the Entropic Circle withers and dies, larger vegetation looks as though it has just been hit by a severe and sudden cold, and creatures caught in the circle being drained take 1d6 points of damage for every extra die being added to the casters damage total. Prestige classes will be reviewed on a case by case basis. Feats will be added as the game progresses to accent the Defiler abilities. Player input would be appreciated. These abilities are not treated as prestige class abilities, and stack when possible. The Brotherhood of Sight does not have 'elite' casters like the other two. Rather, it makes the broadest group of feats, spells and schools available to their members...something that the other two Brotherhoods simply cannot claim. It does not care about the 'morality' of necromantic spells, so members of the Brotherhood of Sight can specializ
Type
Guild, Mages
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