The Blessed

Danu, the Great Mother, provides. We need only learn her secrets: the names by which the trees call each other; the mark made with redberry juice to ward off impure spirits; the language of the wolves. A thousand such secrets Danu keeps, to share with only her true children. Her Blessed.

Background (Choose 1)

• INITIATE Stonetop has long been home to a sacred order, keepers of the old ways and speakers for Danu. You are one such initiate, the most gifted in generations. You gain the Rites of the Land move.

There are other initiates in Stonetop, serving the goddess and the village. They aid you as followers—see the Initiates of Danu insert. Who are they?

Choose 2 or 3:

• Enfys, your acolyte, beloved by birds
• Afon, strange and Fae-touched
• Gwendyl, your mentor, a talented healer
• Olwin, your anointed lover, seer of fates
• Seren the Eldest, wise and hard as winter
• RAISED BY WOLVES Maybe not by wolves, but you grew up in the wild. Beasts of land and air were your siblings. The sighing wind taught you language. The trees and rocks were your home. Were you one of the Forest Folk? Abandoned or orphaned? Lured into the Wood?

Regardless, you get the Trackless Step move (go mark it now). Also, when you Forage, you have advantage.

For some reason, you've made yourself known to Stonetop and perhaps you even call it home. But the ways of humans are still strange to you. Once per session, when your wild ways offend or alienate you from someone, mark XP.

• VESSEL A seed of Danu's power has taken root in your soul. Perhaps it has always been there and only recently sprouted. Or maybe it was planted in you during some portentous event.

Regardless, your dreams have been haunted by strange markings and symbols. You feel the mystic power in plants, stones, and soil. And you've felt the growing wrath of the Earth Mother as foul things begin to move about. Take the Danu's Grasp move (go mark it now).

Danu's power flows through you, but at great cost.

When you would spend 1 Stock from your sacred pouch, you may choose to lose 2d4 HP instead.

Instinct (Choose 1)

• DELIGHT To find beauty, in even the most ugly thing.

• DETACHMENT To remain unmoved, to be cold as winter.

• NURTURE To help others grow, learn, or improve.

• PRESERVATION To protect the natural world.

• REVERENCE To demand sacrifice to the spirits and Danu.

Appearance

Choose 1 on each line, or make something up:

• fresh-faced hale & hearty gray & wizened
• imperious voice raspy voice soothing voice
• curvy strapping rail-thin solid willowy
• ceremonial robes furs, leather work clothes

Place of origin and name

Stonetop is your home, or close enough, but where are you (or your family) from originally? Pick 1 and a name to match (or make up something similar).

• Stonetop: Arwel, Blodwen, Brynmor, Celyn, Fflur, Gwynn, Tegwen, or Winned
• Barrier Pass: Alagh, Bora, Chambui, Enebish, Jalakai, Kamala, Sechen, or Todogen
• The Steplands (Hillfolk): Bejn, Decla, Franza, Irv, Ivet, Jak, Sibl, or Yez
• The Wild: mix and match 1-3 of these: Autumn, Badger, Big, Black, Bloody, Brave, Crow, Cub, Dark, Doe, Fang, Fierce, Flower, Gentle, Green, Grim, Hart, Leaf, Little, Lonely, Old, Owl, Pale, Pup, Quick, Quiet, Rain, Red, Sharp, Snake, Snow, Spring, Summer, Tall, Tree, Yellow, White, Wind, Winter, Wolf, Whisper

Special possessions (Pick 2, in addition to your sacred pouch)

• Sacred pouch (magical): see back page.

Stock: ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

• Apiary: beeswax, candles (close, area, lasts ~1 hr), honey, ◇ bee smokers, ◇ hat & veils, etc.
• Collected offerings (◇◇◇ uses): Expend a use to produce something valuable to a spirit of the wild. Restore 1 use each season.
• Goat herd: milk, cheese, pelts, meat, blood, horn, wool, etc. Each season, 1 in 4 chance of having a bezoar (swallow it to cure poison).
• Herb garden: shears, mortars & pestles, herbs, seeds, remedies, mild poisons, ◇ spades, etc. Each spring, d4 uses of bendis root (reach, area, burns ~1 hr, fumes repel perversions of nature).
• Mastiffs, 2-3 followers (alert, keen-nosed, fierce, overprotective); HP 6; Damage d6 (hand, grabby);

Instinct to bark & threaten; Cost: affection.

(discuss with GM)

Moves

You start with Spirit Tongue, Call the Spirits, 1 from your Background, and 1 of your choice.

• AMULETS & TALISMANS When you craft a protective charm for someone, spend 1 Stock and name a source of harm (fire, stabbing, etc.). When they would suffer such harm while bearing your charm, roll +INT: on a 10+, they ignore the harm entirely; on a 7-9, they suffer only half the damage or effect; on a 6-, they suffer the harm normally. One can benefit from only 1 charm at a time, and it loses its potency after 1 use.
• BARKSKIN When you are touching the earth, you have 2 armor. When you mark another with 1 Stock, they gain this benefit so long as the mark remains.
• BIG MAGIC Each time you take this move, choose an additional remarkable trait for your sacred pouch and increase your max Stock by 2.
• DANU'S GRASP When you call on the world itself to bind a spirit or a perversion of nature, spend 1 Stock and roll +WIS:

on a 7-9, roots, vines, and earth pull at them, and they pick 1; on a 10+, as a 7-9, but both apply.

. They're restrained, unable to act freely until your focus slips or they tear their way free

• They take 2d4 damage (ignores armor)

If this brings them to 0 HP, they are pulled into the earth and bound in rune-etched stone.

• HEALER'S ARTS When someone Recovers under your care, they recover (extra) HP equal to your WIS. If you also spend 1 Stock, they heal an extra 5 HP and their wounds/injuries are stabilized.
• HEED MY WORDS When you Persuade by talking sense or warning against foolishness, you have advantage.
• IMPROVED STAT Each time you take this move, increase one of your stats by 1 (to a max of +2).
• INTO THE LION'S DEN When you approach a beast calmly and show no fear, it will not harm you (though it may threaten you and test your nerve). When you lay your hand gently upon a beast, it calms to your touch.
• LIGHTNING ROD When you Defend while touching the earth, you can spend 1 Readiness to intercept a nearby magical attack and redirect it harmlessly into the ground.
• RITES OF THE LAND ◇◇◇◇ Once per season, when you oversee the sacred rites, hold 1 Boon. If you also sacrifice 1 Surplus, hold 4 Boon instead. Spend Boon in lieu of Stock, 1-for-1.

When you publicly sacrifice something or someone much-loved, either clear a steading debility or gain advantage when the steading next rolls +Fortunes.

• SPIRIT TONGUE

You can speak with beasts and spirits. You can always ask the GM, "What spirits are active here?"

and get an honest answer.

• BORROW POWER

  (Requires Spirit Tongue)

  When a spirit or beast loans you power, ask the GM for one of its tags or moves. Store it in your pouch in place of 1 Stock. When you use the borrowed tag or move, roll +WIS: on a 10+, you do it and can use the power again; on a 7-9, you do it, but lose the power.

• CALL THE SPIRITS

  (Requires Spirit Tongue)

  When you spend 1 Stock and perform a short rite, the spirit(s) of a place or object manifest and hear you out. What they do next is up to them.

• TRACKLESS STEP When you move through nature with care and patience, you make no sound, leave no trace and can ignore any hindering or treacherous terrain (briars, mire, scree, etc.). When you spend 1 Stock and mark others, they each gain this benefit so long as the mark remains. 1 Stock can mark a number of individuals up to your level+INT.
• VEIL When you wrap yourself or another in a subtle veil, spend 1 Stock and choose 1:

• A type of being you name (including "people") will tend to ignore your presence
• People will perceive you as someone else, though you must wear something of an individual's in order to impersonate them When your deception comes under scrutiny, roll +INT: on a 10+, the veil holds, and no one is the wiser; on a 7-9, the veil holds, but there is further scrutiny or a complication (GM's choice).

• WARDS & BINDINGS When you mark a boundary with sacred signs, spend 1 Stock and describe who or what they affect (using no more words than your level). Also, choose whether the affected beings are repelled or trapped by the signs.

When your wards or bindings are first tested, roll

+INT: on 10+, they will hold as long as the signs remain unmarred (and the affected creature can do nothing to affect them directly); on a 7-9, they hold for now but may be overcome through might or will.

• WILD SOUL (Requires level 2+ and the Blessed) Each time you take this move, gain a Ranger move of your choice for which you qualify. You can't pick Improved Stat or Superior Stat.
• NATURE'S WRATH (Requires level 6+ and Danu's Grasp) Danu's Grasp gains the area tag and can affect any creature. A mortal reduced to 0 HP is subdued or killed (your choice) rather than bound in stone.
• POTENT WORKINGS (Requires level 6+ and Amulets & Talismans) When you craft a protective charm, you may spend 1 additional Stock to choose 1:

• Name an additional type of harm
• On a 10+, the charm retains its potency

• SHARED SOULS (Requires level 6+ and Into the Lion's Den) When you mark a beast with 1 Stock, you can direct its actions and perceive through its senses no matter the distance between you. Treat it as a follower with 3 Loyalty; when you spend its last Loyalty, the effect ends.
• SUCK THE POISON OUT (Requires level 6+ and Healer's Arts) When you draw a malady from a patient's body, mind, or soul, spend 1 Stock and roll +WIS: on a 10+, you remove the malady and can safely discard it or store it in your sacred pouch (taking the space of 1 Stock) to study or inflict on another; on a 7-9, you remove it, but choose 1:

• Your patient suffers lingering harm or trauma
• You suffer some of the malady's effects
• It will be harmful and dangerous to discard

• SUPERIOR STAT (Requires level 6+) Increase one of your stats by +1 (to a max of +3).
• VOICE OF THE EARTH MOTHER (Requires level 6+ and Spirit Tongue) When you speak on behalf of Danu, natural beasts and spirits of the wild respect your authority. All but the most headstrong will do as you command, even against their instincts.

Sacred pouch

Your sacred pouch (magical) doesn't take up space in your inventory. It can hold up to 3 Stock (sacred herbs, powders, stones, pigments, chalks, clay, and so forth). Each time you gain an even-numbered level, your pouch can hold +1 Stock. When anyone but you looks inside your sacred pouch and touches the materials therein, the Stock is ruined.

When you have a few days of downtime in familiar terrain, you may replenish your Stock.

When you Forage, you can produce Stock instead of provisions.

Your sacred pouch is... (choose 1 on each line)

• an heirloom made just for you your own work
• fur drakescale leather woven demonflesh
• unadorned beadwork rich dyes runes What remarkable trait does it possess? (choose 1)
• It cannot be cut, torn, or burned by any natural means.
• Unless someone is specifically searching for your pouch, they will ignore its presence.
• So long as the pouch is sealed, nothing within can be detected or found by magic, nor can anything within escape or affect the outside world.
• Unnatural and unclean creatures cannot bear to touch it.

The Earth Mother

Danu has long been revered by all peoples, though not always worshipped or served by priests. In Stonetop's Pavilion of the Gods, Danu's shrine is...

(choose 1)

• ... loved, well-used, dripping with offerings and petitions.
• ... little more than a token of respect, for her holy places are anywhere but here.
• ... given wide berth by most, and approached only with care and propitiation.
• ... neglected and all but forgotten, except by a few.

What do the folk of Stonetop leave as offerings?

(choose 2-3)

• fruits of harvest figurines/effigies
• whisky/spirits salt/crystals
• pure rain water metal nails/tools
• blood/burnt flesh incense/sage bark

Introductions

Wait here for everyone else. When everyone's ready, take turns introducing your characters. When someone reveals something and you want to know more, ask them about it. When someone asks you a question, answer it truthfully.

1. 1
   On your first turn, introduce yourself by name, pronouns, background, origin, and appearance.
2. 2
   On your second turn, describe your special possessions and how you contribute to the village (beyond working the fields).
3. 3
   On your third turn, describe your sacred pouch and its remarkable trait. Then, tell us about Danu's shrine in Stonetop and how she is worshipped.
4. 4
   On your next turn, answer one of the following, naming one or more NPCs who live in Stonetop.

• Who is your closest kin?
• Whose heart & soul is entwined with yours?
• Who taught you the secret ways?
• Who is beloved by the goddess, your charge to nurture/guide/protect/heal?

1. 5
   Go around again. Answer another question from 4, or pass. When everyone has passed, go on.
2. 6
   On your next turn, ask your fellow PCs one of these. When others ask you, answer as you like.

• Which one of you do the spirits whisper of?
• Which one of you has joined me in a sacred rite?
• Which of you has made a blood-oath with me?
• Which one of you doubts the power of Danu?

1. 7
   Go around again. Ask another question from 6, or pass. When everyone has passed, go on.
2. 8
   Add your home to the steading playbook. When everyone is done, let spring burst forth!