Table of Contents
Opening Fiction Rebirth ...... 2 Introduction Worthy of Song ...... 9 Before Time… ...... 9 Rebellion ...... 10 The Age of the Worthy ...... 11 The First and Final Wars of Sunder ...... 11 Time of Malice ...... 13 What Is This Setting? ...... 14 Theme: Tropical Baroque/Oriental Noir ...... 14 Inspirations ...... 14 Lexicon ...... 14 Chapter One: Setting ...... 17 The Karanduun ...... 17 Where They Arose ...... 17 Why They Disappeared ...... 17 Now They Are Reborn ...... 17 Sinag ...... 17 Usbong ...... 18 Budding Power ...... 18 Tungkulin ...... 19 Hiwaga ...... 19 Born, not Chosen ...... 19 Awakening ...... 20 Nature of the Tapiserya ...... 20 Below ...... 21 Abyss ...... 21 The Waters ...... 21 The Underworld, or Sulad ...... 21 The Middle ...... 21 The Midworld, or Sanlibutan...... 21 Above ...... 21 The Skies ...... 21 The Skyworld, or Maka ...... 22 The Throne ...... 22 Diwa ...... 22 Espiritu and Gadlum ...... 24 The Spirit World, or Espiritu ...... 24 Dambanas ...... 24 The Near Shores ...... 24 The Middle Shores ...... 25
1 The Far Shores ...... 25 The Farthest Reaches ...... 25 Beyond ...... 25 Gadlum ...... 25 Time of Malice ...... 26 Character Creation ...... 28 Attributes ...... 28 Skills ...... 29 The Skill List ...... 29 Saving Throws ...... 30 Armors ...... 30 Weapons ...... 30 Rules ...... 31 Skill Checks ...... 31 Combat ...... 31 Labors ...... 32 Advancement ...... 34 Benefits of Gaining a Level ...... 34 Words ...... 35 Word Changes ...... 35 Moon or Buwan ...... 35 Tala or Star ...... 37
Opening Fiction
Rebirth
In the 1107th year of the Masked Moon, otherwise the 987th Year of Yavum’s Slumber, a girl awoke to the sound of crowing roosters.
In a far-off farming barangay, nestled at the end of a waterfall, framed by a singular mountain that cuts it off from the rest of the southern country, a young girl awoke. Just the night before, the Al-Kaigian Regiments pulled back their troops from the barangay. They had announced it for all of the barangay to hear -- they would become unprotected because they were being called as reinforcements for the reconquista efforts in Liway.
Without the Regiments of Al-Kaig, they were bare naked. Ripe for the taking.
Thankfully, two priests stayed with them, and they had prayed for the protection of the barangay until the return of the Regiments.
Bai Ani was content with that.
She arose from her sleepless slumber and found that her parents had gone before her. She found this strange -- she usually awoke early enough to see the sun rise, and her parents had never awoken before that.
2 But now they had.
She climbed down the ladder of the nipa hut; slipped her feet into wooden sandals. She found that most of the barangay was awake, already bustling about and walking towards one direction -- the plaza.
Bai Ani rubbed at her eyes and walked over there. Up further north, it was slightly colder than the southern areas, so her white fibre baro’t saya was a bit lacking, but the cold did not bother her.
What did is that she found everyone in the plaza crowding around the Priests Acanto and Cerio. The two priests were standing upon a wheelbarrow; a karabaw was attached to it, lazily waiting for instructions.
“Heed, ye all! Heed,” said Father Acanto, the more elderly of them. Both Acanto and Cerio were skinny and frail, and it looked like they were living in less than likable circumstances for an Al-Kaigian priest, but they had talked before, and she knew that both of them had traveled here on their own accord, both out of love for them and wanting to save their beings from the damnation of paganism, as well as seeking to understand the truth of the natives in the Thousand Islands.
She’d thought that they were a load of horseshit at first, but she eventually warmed up to them. They were a genuine couple, who seemed to have gone through most of life together.
“Ah, Bai Ani! You are here,” said Father Cerio from beside Acanto. Acanto gave her a quick glance -- gave the slightest of approving nods -- and began his speech.
They spoke fluently in their tribal language, as they always had after they quickly picked up on it. “Heed my words, and be blessed. As you all know, the Al-Kaigian Regiments have retreated from our barangay for they were called to action in the lines with the Governer-General. We pray for their success and safety.” They stopped for a moment of silence, but the rest of the barangay was restless.
“What does that mean now?”
“Will they never return?”
“We don’t need them! Our warriors are more than enough!”
Father Acanto ended the religiously kept moment of silence and spoke above the crowd. “Like what dear Sigasa said -- we have our tenacious warriors, who will no doubt keep all dangers to the barangay away. For that, we applaud you.”
Father Cerio stepped in. “Unfortunately, there is one danger that we cannot fight back against without the strength of an entire standing army.”
“Do you doubt us, Father Acanto?” the voice of Gat Arado rose from the behind her. Bai Ani blinked, but she was used to Gat Arado’s loud voice. “Do you doubt the strength of this barangay?”
Father Acanto turned to Gat. “You know that is not true,” said he. “I have all the faith in your strength, Datu Arado, but you must be realistic as well.”
“Indeed,” interjected Father Cerio. “Our messengers and scouts have relayed a message -- a fleet of Giroan ships are on their way to our shores. No doubt that they will find our barangay first, and if they are here for the same reasons that we suspect…”
“Then this barangay will be doomed,” said Father Acanto.
“Giroan? But why would they attack us?”
“Who knows?” replied Acanto. “Riches? Glory? Land? The Giroans have been on the move lately.”
“But that does not matter,” continued Cerio. “What does is that they will be arriving in the shores of the Beach to our west by tomorrow. We do not have any other choice -- we must evacuate our barangay if we are to keep you safe.”
More uproar, but this time it was more of fear than outrage. “What will happen to our crops?” “How about our children?”
Father Acanto and Father Cerio were both quiet as they listened to the concerns and outcry of the barangay. Bai Ani turned to Gat Arado, who was staring down at the ground, his eyes funnels of intensity.
3 “Bai Ani!” a feminine voice spoke behind her. She turned and saw the wrinkled, brown face of her mother. “Don’t dally, child. We must bring some of the chickens and some of the coconut fiber with us. We leave in the morning!”
“But mother-”
“Hush, child. Come now. Your father is waiting.”
Gat Arado watched as Bai Ani was hauled away back to the nipa hut that she had just come out of.
* * *
Before long, they managed to haul coconut fibers and chicken onto their karabaw, and the father stood by it. Most of their items had been emptied from their houses. Nipa huts, which were made to be destroyed, just so that it can be rebuilt again with abundant materials.
As they finished packing, Bai Ani’s father placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Child, we must be as the nipa hut. We must be flexible, easily patchable and repairable, always coming up to meet the challenge and to survive on the other side.”
Bai Ani only nodded, even if something troubled her.
* * *
They managed to finish packing much earlier than the time to leave. Bai Ani slipped out from her parents’ watch as they rested within the nipa hut.
She ran across the barangay on her wooden sandals, looking for a single person. It wasn’t long before she found him -- tall, built like a narra tree, with tattoos that cover his chest, abdomen, and biceps, which he proudly revealed, only wearing pants.
“Silakan!” The boy turned. His intricately braided hair -- twined together by animal bones -- jangled as he did.
“Bai Ani! Why are you here?”
Bai Ani realized that Silakan was surrounded by other tattooed men. The tallest one was the same man that had spoken up that morning. Gat Arado.
“I seek to ask Gat Arado something but…” she bit her lip. “What are you doing here?” She looked about her. “This is almost every warrior in the barangay!”
“Bai Ani,” spoke Gat Arado. “You have come. Do you wish to join us?”
“What are you planning on doing, Gat Arado?”
Gat Arado turned to the rest of the warriors before speaking. “We will not sit idly while they gain a foothold on us,” said the man. “We shall travel to the shore, swathed in breastplates and stones blessed by the gods, wearing ornamental bangles and cloaks, to herald them to our isles with the violence that breaks the sky.”
“But that is madness! The Giroans have superior firepower!”
Gat Arado shook his head. “But we have superior Bala. We shall take their cannons and dragonfire arms head on, and they shall glance off our skins as the agimats take effect.”
At that, the warriors all roared in ardent passion. Bai Ani could see their eyes widening, the hairs on the napes of their skin rising, their blades and spears and shields rose to the sky. They were ready to achieve victory.
“Ascend through Strife, Bai Ani.”
Bai Ani turned to Silakan, who roared in admiration at their maharlikan captain. It was -- as he’d always said -- just like the time before the Al-Kaigians came. A time of war and constant raidings, of war with neighbouring tribes over honor. Of raiding distant lands and returning with abounding riches and glory.
“The Giroans were afraid of us once!” Gat Arado’s voice lifted to the wind. “We shall show them why once again!”
4 “Silakan, you must not,” said Bai Ani. She’d always known that it was she who had the better head on her shoulders. “This will not end well.”
“Do not doubt the spirit, Bai Ani,” said Silakan. “We will win. We must win. For our barangay!”
* * *
Bai Ani had walked away from the preparing warriors. Not wanting to return to her house, she strolled along the roads of the barangay, looking and seeing the various families all preparing their goods and items for transport, hooking them onto karabaws and horses and the occasional raptor.
She could see the young boys and girls, playing with their wooden tops and yoyos. Splashing water from the stream. Men and women who would talk to each other in the morning to exchange stories before leaving for their respective works. Fishermen and weavers. Miners and farmers. All of them in a subdued, muted caricature now of their daily lives.
This harrowing silence had fallen upon the barangay. A harrowing silence that sang of inevitability.
“Ah, Bai Ani!” The girl was beckoned by an elderly man, with hair and beard silvery white, and a body that has managed to stay strong all these years. His forehead was beaded with sweat once again, as it always was. In one hand was his trusty hammer; rust had already begun to crawl up its steel handle.
“Panday Minadeo,” said Bai Ani. She walked up to him, took his hand and touched it to her forehead. A custom they had been practicing since before the Al-Kaigians arrived, but only now had they codified it. “You are still forging?”
Panday Minadeo nodded. “I am.” He grinned widely. “I have all the iron I need here, and I seek to forge the greatest weapon of all the islands.”
Bai Ani blinked. “What do you mean? You are not… leaving?”
Minadeo shook his head. “I’m afraid I will not. Wherever we will go, surely it will not have the same amount of iron deposit that I find here, in Barangay Laksamana. I have also been blessed by the diwata of iron here.” His grin was unfaltering. “I cannot leave. I wouldn’t want all those diwata to become sad!” He laughed.
Bai Ani couldn’t help but be infected by Panday Minadeo’s laugh, but inside she broke. “But you will be destroyed by the Giroans.”
Panday Minadeo shrugged. “We have our warriors and Gat Arado. If THAT fails, and I assure you they won’t, then they will be having a hard time with all the weapons I have here.”
Bai Ani stared into Panday Minadeo’s eyes. They twinkled with knowledge. With faith. With assurance. She knew, in that instant, that he would not leave. This was his home. He would not move aside for foreign invaders to step on their land.
“Panday Minadeo! Here it is!” Bai Ani turned to the voice to see a short woman with a bandana around her head, keeping her hair away from her face. In her hands was a clay pot filled with sinangag -- a delicacy. Fried rice with garlic and pepper.
“Ate Mangacha,” said Bai Ani, and she performed the same gesture to her that she did to Panday Minadeo. “Shouldn’t you be preparing your crops?”
“Ah, well. Hay,” she sighed and shrugged. She gave Panday Minadeo the sinangag dish before turning to her. “I am not wealthy enough to afford a caravan enough for all my crops. I was born on this land, Bai Ani. I cannot leave it. I am bound to this place. In many aspects, this land is me. If I was born here, then I would gladly die here as well.”
“But Ate…”
Despite being shorter than her, Mangacha pulled her into an embrace. “It is okay, my child. I will be okay. I’ve lived a good life. You, on the other hand, are young. You should evacuate first thing in the morning, else you forfeit your life to such unwanted circumstances.”
Bai Ani pulled away and looked at these two people. The two oldest people in the barangay. Those who could not bear to leave their land.
5 “Sus,” spat Panday Minadeo. “What are you saying Mangacha? We’re not going to die here! Gat Arado mobilizes his warriors as we speak!”
Mangacha grinned widely at that. “Then we must be safe. Have faith.” She said that seemingly to Panday Minadeo, but it seemed she also aimed it at Bai Ani.
More importantly, it seemed, that she spoke it to herself.
* * *
Bai Ani had returned to where Silakan was. They were running sword drills. Their arms moved in quick, circular movements that was hard to follow with the untrained eye. They wove, like the weavers, their movements fluid and graceful.
“Gat Arado,” said Bai Ani. Gat, who was overseeing the drills, did not turn to look at her but said:
“What is is, Bai Ani?”
“I wish to join you.”
* * *
They moved in the morning before the rooster crowed.
The sun, their guiding light, was not awake, so they placed their trust in the moon. Bai Ani was blessed to wield two bolos, as she was well known to be exemplary at the art of the sinawali. Silakan was armed with the kampilan that Panday Minadeo had made specifically for him, which he had called the Heart-Eater. It was decorated with various magical stones, which Bai Ani never understood what they did.
But as they descended upon a forward scout team of Giroans, she did.
They were like fury and fire, eating away at them. Their swords flashed in the darkest before the dawn, and the forward troop of five Giroan soldiers -- wielding a mix of bows, dragonflame sluggers, and straight swords -- fell like prey to the lions.
“Do not stop,” said Gat Arado. “Continue moving toward the shore.”
And so they did. All twenty of them, including Bai Ani, Silakan and Gat Arado.
By the time they arrived at the patch of forest right before the forest. At that point where the green met the white sand, they could already see the large turtle ships of the Giroan naval fleet. The warriors decided to stay in the shade of the forestry, to keep the element of surprise on their side.
“Timoway,” spoke Gat Arado. “What do you see?”
“Gat Arado, they are advancing with their turtle ships, but a smaller ship -- like a bangka -- is moving towards the shore first.”
“Hm,” Gat Arado scowled at the waters. Truly enough, a small ship appeared and neared the shore. Upon it were around thirty men, and strangely enough, three of them were on raptors. “Then we shall cut them down.”
“Are you sure, Gat?”
“Their turtle ships are nothing against us.”
Before long, the smaller ship crashed against the bony corals that ringed the islands. Instead of pushing through, the soldiers began coming down from the ship and swimming to shore. The raptors -- large, scaly beasts that ran on two powerful legs - - swam across the water as well.
As the first of the soldiers arrived, wearing their white lamellar over their soaked shirts, Gat Arado nodded. Instantly, the first soldier cried in pain and fell over.
An arrow stuck out of his throat.
Two more went down to arrows.
6 Gat Arado ordered them to stop with two knocks against the wood of the nearby coconut tree.
The soldiers put on their helmets, breathing heavily from the effort of swimming with their lamellar on. They brought out their straight swords and readied for combat against an enemy they could not even see.
Bai Ani and Silakan both stood at ready, their weapons already unsheathed.
Then one of the men riding the raptors arrived on shore. The raptor shook itself off of water, its scales scintillating the sunlight as it rose, sending droplets of rainbow.
The Giroan said something, and then spurred the raptor. With an indignant snort, the raptor dashed forward, straight at where Gat Arado, Bai Ani, and Silakan were.
Another knock on wood. Three arrows shot out, flew like lightning, blessed with magic, pierced the raptor’s hide. The raptor cried out, a squeal of agony that gave Bai Ani goosebumps.
But the rider was different. His spear outstretched, he flew from the mount as it tumbled underneath him, and his spear moved forward to Gat Arado.
They only had three bowmen.
Gat Arado unsheathed his blade, stepped forward, and parried away the spear. There, in midair, the Giroan general twisted and sent a flurry of attacks at Gat Arado, who parried every single one away. In the little moments that Bai Ani could see the Giroan’s eyes, she found that they burned with a flame.
In that instant, the rest of the infantry arrived at shore and they charged.
Gat Arado bellowed a command. The seventeen warriors jumped out of the foliage, running down to meet the infantry.
Silakan moved and swung his kampilan at the Giroan general. The blade cracked against his lamellar, and sent him flying back and out of the forestry, back to the white sands.
“Go!”
Bai Ani stepped out, screaming as her bolos swung at the nearest Giroan. Their lamellar was tough, but something flowed through Bai Ani. A power surging through her, bolstering her arms and legs and spirit. Something she didn’t think she had before. She cut down the first soldier in a matter of seconds, her swords flying in a weaving practice. From behind them, the various Giroan soldiers were retreating.
Silakan was hollering, overjoyed.
But as that soldier fell, she heard the distinct sound of thunder.
And then--
White sand exploded.
Something glued her to the ground. Power glued her to the ground. She withstood the wall of white sand that had exploded from the ground.
* * *
When the sand cleared, she was alone.
Silakan was on his back, staring with glassy eyes at the sky. Gat Arado was nowhere to be found. The seventeen other warriors they had were all mutilated, destroyed, bleeding.
Dead.
In the middle of the explosion was a crater, upon which a steel ball almost the size of her was.
The turtle ships had opened fire.
7 At that moment, Bai Ani meditated on that one truth -- they have failed. The barangay will have to evacuate.
Panday Minadeo will die.
Ate Mangacha will perish where she was born.
The children that played will become as dust.
She came to the harrowing realization that the raptors of the Giroans will eventually catch up to the slow moving karabaw caravans.
Bai Ani knew, now, that if they didn’t stop the Giroans here, she and all of her family, and all of her barangay, the only thing that she had in this cruel world, would vanish, subsumed to the strength of the Giroans.
Something within her blood said that would not be so.
“Divinity through bloodshed.” The words bubbled from her like a mantra.
She realized that she was crying as she walked over to Silakan’s body. She stared at the young boy’s open eyes; they stared glassily at the rising sun. The sun that painted the scene in bloody purple.
She bent down and hugged his corpse.
When she broke away from the embrace, she carried with her his kampilan. “Heart-Eater,” she whispered.
She turned back to the battlefield and saw that the soldiers and the raptor riders were regrouping for another assault.
Bai Ani strode across the battlefield, stepped over the cannonball. Bolo in one hand, kampilan in the other.
The Giroans watched her as she strode forward, burning with an essence unknown to them. Her eyes glowing with the intensity of the furnace made of stars, her hair blazing and floating above her like a corona, her veins burning with heart-sun ichor. Black blood speckled with white dust akin to the serene glow of the moon dripped down her hands.
Alone, with the barangay behind her, her entire world behind her.
A group of soldiers, and almost twenty turtle ships before her.
The Sun rose quietly, as the Moon fell away. And in that exact moment, they were in the sky at the same time, bridged by stars.
The Giroan general bellowed a shout, and the raptors and the soldiers approached. Each of the turtle ships fired a cannon. The whistle of a falling meteor was unmistakable.
The Giroans advanced. Bai Ani strode forward.
In the 1107th year of the Masked Moon, otherwise known as the 987th Year of Yavum’s Slumber, the Karanduun are reborn.
8
Introduction
Worthy of Song
Why independence, if the slaves of today will be the tyrants of tomorrow? Jose Rizal, El Filibusterismo
"It was heralded with the crow of a tigmamanukan bird, welcomed with a crumbling fissure, adorned with the death of crops, shattered with a rain of ice, and reborn with the rising sun, they now walk among us once again the heroes of legend walk among us once again in epic myth and wicked tales, they are known in one name: Karanduun". Makata Singsing Cadenza, in a cafe in the City of Si Setanta, 1175th Year of the Masked Moon, or, 917th Year of Yavum's Slumber, Age of Luminance.
It has long been said that the world is a dead. It is in a toiling time of Malice, in a scarred land Before Time… embroiled in war between forces of spirit, forces of …was when beings known as Bathala flourished nature, the forces of technology, and the forces of the and lived all across the Skysea, a place of infinite Divine, in a world that is left scarred and will never blackness. In each Skysea they had planets, with each recover to its former glory because of the zealous planet having its own Skyworld and Underworld, each tyranny of the Mad Sky God, in a world of murderous of them floating upon the Formless Sea, with the Black nature gods and scheming heavenly gods. Sky bneath them. In a corpse land where upon a scorched These Bathala reigned over multiple kingdoms, archipelago a brazen metropolis stands, fuming with and their temples were the planets and their steam made from murdered gods, where humanoid worshippers were the beings within. lions walk alongside pointy-eared engkanto that have Above it all was a being simply known as The been cast out from their noble kingdom and horse- Great Weaver, who sat on the Throne of the Sky, and headed demons who now bargain for tobacco. was she who had borne the cosmos of the Skysea out In a corpse land where the people broil under the of the Primordial Mist. iron fist of a ruler blessed by the “One True God”, Eventually, the Great Weaver showed her where the natives resist against the zealous empire's daughter to all the bathala, and her beauty was such conquests, and those already conquered are that all the bathala desired her. And thus, they went emboldened by the old gods of the land to take back into cosmic war, a war known as the First War. The what is theirs. War was great, destroying planets and immortal In a corpse land, the heart beats again. beings. The Karanduun are reborn. The Great Weaver, horrified at what She thought But the Worthy of Song remember a greater time. She had brought, hid her daughter for eternity. The A time not of sorrow and malice, but rather, a time of War ended with no victories, with most of the bathala great deeds and even greater legends. A time where dead, and most planets either destroyed or depleted. they were welcomed. At time where they were not myths or epics. A time where they were real, and they enacted immeasurable change upon the world of In the Black Skysea that was left, a surviving Sanlibutan. bathala known as Bathalang Maykapal, the Actor of Power, emerged. Traveling through the Skysea, he The Song of the Karanduun begins as thus: found that there were two other bathala that survived:
9 Bathalang Ulila and Bathalang Gala. Maykapal became rocks. He had inherited his father's vast power in quick friends with Gala, and they together traveled the addition to his own, and he was as arrogant as he was beautiful ruins of the time of the Bathala. Eventually, powerful. Ulila found them, and he—feeling alone and sad— Apung Adlaw, the Sun That Cleaved, was happy, thought that these other two bathala had betrayed him. noble, and always optimistic. He was filled with And so, he assaulted both of them, the first combat passion, and would've suggested Kalibutan to think after the First War. Maykapal won, slaying him with twice about his plans, but his passionate love for his godly might, and in the wake of his victory, he threw brother told him otherwise, and he thusly went with Ulila’s body down to the conflux of stars that was the his brother. In addition to this, he was a comely Skysea and created the Waters of Sanlibutan. warrior, filled with tactics and intelligence. However, Ulila’s power was great, and in his rage, Apung Bulan, the Moon-Thief of the Sky, was killed Gala. Maykapal, in his grief of losing his only comely, beautiful, and docile, and never questioned his friend, lifted him up, turning him into the Sky of brother's authority. He was shifting and versatile like Sanlibutan. quicksilver, and so he was able to help his brothers And thus, the Sky and Sea Firmament of without question. Many of the current Apo that occupy Sanlibutan was made, the first planet after the First Maka that have been there since the Time of Divinity War which stood in the middle of the Skysea. Then, have said that Bulan was both a woman and a man at once again all alone, Maykapal, the Actor of Power, the same time, depending on where you looked at disappeared. Where and why? None know. him/her. He sought opportune times and destroyed And from there, from the debris and ambergris of spiritual warriors and wounded the Supernal Sky with that conflict, the first diwata arose. The embodiments a single dagger. of nature. The most powerful of the Diwata, called Apung Suga, the Sagess of a Thousand Lights, Apo, came to be. was lovely, perfectly beautiful, bright, intelligent, and The Apo known as Apung Maykaptan, the the only daughter. She knew of the secrets of her Supernal Sky, and Apung Magu'yawan, the Guiding parents, and from there she extrapolated the inner Ocean, arose, life from death, and they made love, workings of creation, the pattern of the Great Weaver giving birth to two beautiful children: Paros, the that hid in plain sight. She thus became the first Divine Wind and Dagat, the Sea of Passion. Sorceress that knew the secrets to creation, the weaving of things, that only the Great Weaver knew.
Kalibutan was arrogant and powerful, as he Rebellion inherited the power of his Father, Paros. In his hubris, Apung Paros was ever-changing and arrogant. He he persuaded his siblings Adlaw and Bulan to seize the ruled with vast power over the winds and the air. He throne of Heaven from their Grandfather, Apung was eventually defeated and bested in both war and Maykaptan. Kalibutan used his commanding presence love by Apung Dagat. They lived a long life together to command legions of Lipod and Magindara, as well in the world of Sea and Sky, but the diwata are not as used his powers over the elements to blow open the immortal. They are constricted to the movement of the gates of the Sky. Adlaw led the charge, fighting with winds. vicious strength, assaulting his Grandfather’s servants. Eventually, Apung Paros died and his diwa, his Bulan had snuck into Maka and gave the Apo the lay spiritual essence, gave birth to the engkanto races: the of the land, the weaknesses, the various weapons that Lipod, the Tamawo, the Palesekan, and the were used there. He learned how to sabotage them, Dalaketnon. how to destroy them before they could even be used. Apung Dagat was overcome with grief, and died Suga was innocent to all of this, but heard all the from overwhelming sadness. At the crux of her death ruckus that rang in Maka, and so she went to Maka to throes, Apung Bakunawa, Serpent Goddess of the see, tearing herself away from her eternal study. Depths was born, and from her the race sea race of the In the wake of this heretical madness, the Supernal magindara and the land race of the naga. Sky was filled with anger, and He unleashed His The deaths of Apung Paros and Apung Dagat also Thunderbolt at the belligerent children. Eventually, brought forth more gods: Apung Okot, Lord of the the Sagess of a Thousand Lights found the way to Forests, Apung Sui-dapa, Lord of Death, Apung Maka battered and destroyed, with the corpses of Saragnayan, Lord of Darkness. spirit-warriors and the great city of Maka strewn The resulting divine bala that arose from these about. When she found her father, the Supernal Sky deaths infused all of creation, and thus the other was blinded with the fury. In his blinded rage, he tore diwata arose, achieving conscience and sentience, apart gentle Suga with his Lightning Bolt. living within Maka and the sea. Sensing that the one he had killed was not one of But before Apung Paros and Apung Dagat died, his usurpers, he calmed down and saw that he had they they gave birth to four powerful Primordial Apo: killed his favorite child. Apung Kalibutan, the Lakan of Sea and Sky, was The act of killing his children drove him mad. strong and tall, and his body was made of craggy
10 He went down to the Ocean and tore it apart, craftsman would pour burning hot lava into a cast— angry at Magu'yawan, but Magu'yawan clarified that the Actor of Power poured his unfiltered, incalculable She did not know anything about what their Diwa. grandchildren were planning. Defeated and saddened, These four shards split into myriad lights, and the Supernal Sky, now Mad, and the Guiding Oceans each light, called the Sinag, the Light Rebellious, wept for their grandchildren. sought those unborn with the destiny of Heroism, as Magu'yawan and Maykaptan gave Apung Adlaw, the Sinag only reacted to humans with the potential for Apung Bulan, and Apung Suga light, and they were greatness. When those imbibed with the power of placed among the firmament of the world. Adlaw, Sinag were birthed, they were observed to have grown given the Flame Immortal became the Only Sun, Bulan, twice as fast, reaching adulthood at fifteen years of age, given the Glow Serene became the Seven Moons, and and becoming able to speak at Nine-months. Each one Suga, given the Silver Luminous, became the Billion imbibed with the power of Sinag were also birthed Stars. under unnatural circumstances, one way or another— However, Kalibutan, being arrogant, was given no under the singing of a tigmamanukan, or a vast light, and he became the earth upon which the first bamboo patch grows in the span of minutes around the shoot of bamboo grew from Magu'yawan, the Guiding house where the hero is born, or under an auspicious Waters' tears. And from the bamboo, arose katawohan, sign that designates their future calling. or mankind.
Before Bathalang Maykapal left, He instructed the The Age of the Worthy Biraddali, the Agents of the Great Will and Keepers of Before the humans even existed, it is worth Knowledge to impart the ancient knowledge to the mentioning that there have been previous beings young Karanduun, to teach them and lead them to before them. The Lipod, the winged wind-people, and great heroism and to eventually overthrow the tyranny the Magindara, the snake-tailed water-people, have of the Mad Sky. existed much before they have. The tamawo and the These young heroes—who have yet to prove palesekan fought amongst themselves in the Corpse of themselves—were given guidance by the Biraddali Kalibutan, claiming patches of forestry and life. The and anito and diwata. These teachers taught them to palesekan became the Children of the Trees, while the harness their infinite potential, the power of a Bathala, tamawo became the Children of the Crystal, creating and taught them about the nature of reality -- how all large crystalline cities as opposed to the palesekan’s of reality is the Weave, and everything was a string of smaller forest-tribes. Diwa that could be manipulated by the strength and The dalaketnon wandered across the world and force of their Sinag-infused Bala, or their internal eventually found one of the caves to Sulad, the strength, as Sinag is the Light Rebellious. They Underworld. There they met Apung Saragnayan, Lord cultivated and trained, making their Sinag more of Darkness. And so, during the first few years of the powerful, manifesting their wondrous Hiwaga, their Epoch of Heroes, the humans lived in constant fear of god-like powers over aspects of reality and human various halimaw and yawa, which came from the Sea, concepts. for the Sea was the corpse of the Orphaned Spirit. The These young heroes, now trained, sought to free other races also subjugated humanity under their rule, the world, ridding it of malevolence, binding halimaw even the Naga that were the eventual descendants of and other such creatures to their oaths, and creating the Naga Tribe of the magindara. the vast empire known as the Sinaunang Kedatuan, In the midst of this all, Bathalang Maykapal, Actor which even the Apo were proud of. The other sentient of Power, returned. races, known collectively as the “Engkanto”, became He found that all of the world was filled with amiable in the wake of their power, cultivating respect death and travesty, crumbling underneath the for frail humanity. crippling weight of the Mad Sky's tyranny. He sought to reason with the Mad Sky, and went to the Throne of the Sky The First and Final Wars of Sunder Maykaptan did not know who he was, and ended All of this became the object of the Mad Sky's hatred, up cursing Maykapal and banishing him from the and he sought to war with the heroes. world. Filled with wrathful rebellion, he gave to The heroes, now after a thousand years of Magu'yawan the instructions of creating powerful prowess, creating vast technologies, and binding the essences of pure, coruscating power -- he tasked three worlds of Maka, Sanlibutan, and Sulad to their Magu’yawan to collect the God-Shards of the will, have become worthy of legends. And their names Primordials: the Furious Rebellious Shard of became that to reflect their achievements—the heroes Kalibutan, the Glorious Warrior Spirit of Adlaw, the were then on known as “Karanduun”, Worthy of Song. Reaping Shadow Specter of Bulan, and the Burning They brought the world into the Golden Age of Thousand Points of Suga. Into these shards—like a Heroes. All of the world was brought under the
11 Sinaunang Kedatuan, other races having different Halea successfully drove Bakonawa back to the castes, and humans living in relative peace and depths. Halea then replaced her brother and became flourishing. the Masked Moon, the only Moon in the Sky, ever- Apung Maykaptan, the Mad Sky sought to create vigilant against the Bakonawa. Whenever she removes his own army of super-warriors. He went to the her Silver Mask, the light of the Moon vanishes. Seething God of the Black Fire, Apung Asuang, sitting That is not all, however. At the same time, the Sun within his throne in the Black Mount. He gave Apung was preyed upon by the Great Bird Behemoth Asuangpower and a harem, in exchange for giving him Minokawa, burning with great power and passion, in what he needed -- a replenish-able amount of Devil- a desperate bid to swallow the entire Sun. The Beasts. He did so, creating six hundred and sixty-six Karanduun went and stopped the Sun-Eater, and Devil-Beast Warriors, which in the ancient tongue are succeeded with all their forces. The Minokawa was known as the Aswang, to fight the Karanduun. The sent over the horizon, and has not returned since. Aswang had control over all manners of beasts and During the eating of the Sun and Moons, Apung darkness, and used rage and illusion and witchcraft to Saragnayan took the chance. Without the Moons and their advantage. Each Aswang’s heart was pure with the Karanduun distracted, those of them not blackness, and when one died or was close to dying, dealing with the Minokawa seemingly not even caring they could manifest this Blackness into the Black Bird, that Bakonawa is eating the moon and instead having which another human being may ingest to turn into a merry time eating and making noise, he would be Aswang as well. two steps closer to his dream of bringing the realm of The Karanduun and their armies fought against darkness, Gadlum, upon Sanlibutan. The Lord of the Aswang in the conflict known as the War of Darkness gathered his dalaketnon, the forces of the Majesty and Rage. maligno, created a pact with the yawa that lived in the The Karanduun won. In exchange for servitude depths of Sulad, and Blessed the Aswang that lived in and service, half of the remaining Aswang forces the Jaws of the Worlds with the power over his surrendered, becoming the Devil-Queens to the darkness, elevating them to be equal in strength with Karanduun’s God-Kings. The other half fled into the the powerful Karanduun. edges of the world, waiting by the Jaws of Sanlibutan, The Qirong Naga could not avoid the conflict seething with the Dark Rage. either. They were divided, into the two Factions of the Angered at this, the Mad Sky sent his angels to Gold Scales and the Silver Scales. The Gold Scales left connive with the world. They spoke with the Naga, to fight with the Karanduun, whereas the Silver Scales who took humans and performed genetic sorcery upon went to fight against the Karanduun, siding with them with the essence of Kalibutan, creating the Imugi, Saragnayan. humans with the power and elemental might over the The Final Wars of Sunder was also known War of world exhibited by the Qirong Naga. They created Sorrow. It was a war without end, a war without 12,000 of them, who then created armies and fought victory, and without cause. In fact, it was only a war in alongside their Dragon Lord Generals. the latter half, as the merry-making and feasting The Karanduun and their Aswang slaves fought Karanduun were ambushed and murdered by the against the 12,000 Imugi and their 1,000 Naga Generals forces of Saragnayan. In the latter half, when victory in the conflict known as the Thousand Brimstone Song seemed uncertain, the Karanduun eventually began War, which lasted for almost 1,000 years. fighting against each other, quarrelling and breaking The Karanduun won once again, subjugating the down, the insanity of power taking hold of them. Each Imugi under their command, becoming guardians and one of them thought that they were right, and that their peacekeepers in the Sinaunang Kedatuan. They plan was to be followed. performed great miracles expanded the borders of The forces of Saragnayan used this opportunity to Tapiserya, and even pushed the Jaws of the World strike into the heart of the Karanduun, and sent them outward, making it bigger than it already is. This was into the winds. The Karanduun was nearing its end, the height of the Golden Age. but the great heroes of the Sinaunang Kedatuan were But too much light can blind. built by the Actor of Power to overcome even the The Mad Sky worked with Apung Saragnayan, greatest of odds. Lord of Darkness, and they stirred the waters, And they did. In their vast power, they won awakening Bakonawa. When she awoke, she saw the against all odds. They threw the Aswang into the Jaws seven moons, and wished to eat them. Two of the of the World to be ripped into chaos. They sent the moons escaped, and Bakonawa ate the remaining four, dalaketnon and the maligno back to the realm of but she only had her eyes set on the most beautiful of Gadlum. They reclaimed the Divine Archipelago and them all: Bu'an, one of the Seven Moon Gods, who readied to rebuild. arose from the detritus Bulan’s corpse. Spurned by his Maykaptan, the Mad Sky, insane and afraid, love, Bakonawa took on the form of a Dragon and swelled all of his power into a final lightning bolt. ascended to the sky. Halea created a silver mask to In his madness, and after aeons of combat against distract the wicked Bakonawa, and they battled until the majestic heroes, he unleashed all of his Power upon
12 the world, and his Lightning Bolt pierced through the The Imugi freed themselves from the tyranny of the fabric of reality itself, destroying Diwa, creation, in an naga, and established their own empire. event that was known as the Thousand Tears and In the wake of the apocalypse, the engkanto races Lightnings Apocalypse. (who all participated in the war as well) all filled in the void. They began creating more empires and
kingdoms and cities that eventually also fell as the tide Time of Malice of darkness became undeniable, and the warring Tapiserya was destroyed wholesale, and then was between the engkanto eventually drove them to the buried under a World-Spanning Deluge. In fact, the same state as the now sundered and destroyed Thousand Tears and Lightnings Apocalypse erased humanity. This time was known as the Midsummer. various possibilities in the Tapiserya that would've With the help of the engkanto, civilization rose up been, and created new ones, as well as removed once again, now vastly reduced in population— various parts of physics and replaced it with reduced to the time before the Karanduun—began amorphous rules. The world was quite literally their bid for territory. changed. A hundred years pass before the Septumvirate -- The Final Lightning Bolt of Maykaptan pierced seven siblings of half-tamawo blood -- discover the through every Karanduun, and destroyed them. The writings of Yavum. As to who Yavum is, is something Sinag were sent to the winds of spirit, seemingly never up for debate. But whoever he is, he has the power to to be found. Bless his chosen ones with powers similar to the And eventually, the flood receded, and the world Karanduun. rebuilt itself, now without the Worthy. Before long, the Saint-Kings of Al-Kaig ruled over This is a time of wailing and gnashing of teeth. It the Kivhran Peninsula, in the northern continent of was known as the Time of Malice. Hraga and in 1000th Year of the Masked Moon, have The Thousand Tears and Lightnings Apocalypse established colonial strongholds within Zuhayras, the caused a rift in being and essence, splitting the world Heart of the World. in twain, ripping the world of spirit away from the To the east, in the continent of Silanan, humans, world of nature, causing the diwata to live in invisible led by the Imugi have created the Giroan Empire. societies which the races of nature cannot see. They To the west, the various engkanto races are now lived in a sundered world, one half-empty. This preparing to either storm the colonial empire or take was known as the Sundering, hence why the war over the Lakungdulan Archipelago for themselves. before it was the Final War of Sunder. To the South, in the continent of Sur Janubia, the Because of the deaths, there were too many City-State of Effisia that is crowded with the other Kaluluwa, or Souls, in Sulad. Thus Sulad overflowed, races, learns how to replicate the basest technologies seeping into the world, in sites known as “Pataylupa”, during the Golden Age. or dead land. Here ghosts walk freely as they do in the The Aswang return from their hiding places, night, even if it is the day, where the light of the Flame becoming powerful Devil-Beasts and barbarians and Immortal seek to burn away beings that do not belong bringers of death. A powerful faction of them, known within the world. as the Pact of the Demon-Ghouls, seek to finish what Maykaptan cursed the Biraddali, the Agents of Saragnayan has begun. Tadhana for not being on his side. As punishment, he The Biraddali, agents of fate and teachers sought to erase them from reality as well, but the following the Great Will of Tadhana, begin to pick up Biraddali, being agents of the Great Will, stayed fast. vast Diwa anomalies within Kapalaran, across all of The name “Biraddali” was thoroughly removed from Sanlibutan. reality and memory, but the Biraddali stayed, alive and In the midst of all this, a farmer girl in a backwater well, carrying out the will of Tadhana with barangay is born under strange circumstances: her reconnaissance missions and/or adopting various birth was heralded by an earthquake, followed by a Maskara to be remembered… at least, until they had to flooding, followed by a storm, and then ended with a give it up, and they return to being simply silhouettes scorching drought that eventually brought the most against a black background. Tadhana works in fruitful harvest of the barangay’s entire lifetime. mysterious ways, after all. Finally, it was heralded with a loud crowing of a tigmamanukan… which eventually vanished after she And then, with that last act of tyranny, Apung was delivered. Maykaptan, the Mad Sky, disappeared from the world. In the 1107th Year of the Masked Moon, the The gates to the Throne of the Sky became barred with Karanduun are reborn. the highest of sorceries. In the 1107th Year of the Masked Moon, you arrive. The humans did not fail either, however. The Aswang left their empires and stayed in the fringes of It has long been said that the world is dead. Will the Tapiserya, within dead forests and murky depths. you bring resurrection, or place it in its grave? What songs will they sing of you?
13 Epics, with notable influences being the Hinilawod, What Is This Setting? the Ibalon, the Epics of Tuwaang, and Biag ni Lam- This is a setting inspired by Filipino Myths, Epics, and Ang. In addition, the other RPGs that influenced this History. setting is Godbound itself, Exalted, and D&D 4e’s This setting is written with the Godbound system Nentir Vale setting. in mind. It details the might and power of the Aesthetic-wise, I took after the works of Juan Karanduun, Epic and Mythical Heroes, reborn into the Luna, Fernando Amorsolo, Jap Mikel, and Sanlibutan. The Karanduun are the undisputed heroes photographs of Old Manila. of the setting, even though other powerful character Finally, the following video games give insight to types (Aswang, Biraddali, Imugi…) will be playable as how I eventually shaped the aesthetic of the setting: well. The focus is wholly on the Karanduun, however. Shin Megami Tensei, Monster Hunter, Dishonored, God of War, Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Ogre, as Theme: Tropical Baroque/Oriental Noir well as Guilty Gear.
The night is dark and filled with twisted, demonic Lexicon creatures that prey upon flesh and blood. The day is filled with the lies and illusions of corrupt friars and Agos: See Diwa. priests. The Colonial Government is falling apart as the Aswang: The progeny of the Evil God Asuang. Empire finds the colony to be a liability in the face of They are premiere evil infernalists and shapeshifters wars from all sides. The natives of the land are treated that deal with powerful demon-gods and are ghouls as second-class citizens of their land. The land and unto themselves. architecture are beautiful; the people are not. The Bala: The burning power within a Karanduun, heroes burning with the intensity of the sun return to which they command to bolster their feats to beyond a time that has forgotten them, relegated them to mortal ken. Also see: Diwa and Sinag. myths. They are reborn in the trappings of a foreign Beyond, the: See Espiritu. kingdom, a foreign land, and a foreign God. Biraddali: Agents and Angels of the Great Will, Cities of grimy dust and bone and stone and brick those that have been occulted from the world after they and brass are built upon the once great cities of were cursed by Maykaptan and now serve the Great imperishable sun-gold and starsilver and Will within Heaven while being forgotten by the mooncopper. The once great civilizations of mankind world. have shattered into undulating fragments, torn apart Dambana: A place of power, of spiritual power, by the winds of history. Now the katawohan hold and a conflux of energies. Dambanas have been in hatred within their hearts, even as they are forced to existence since the Time of Heroes, even before the live in bastions of civilization for the world has become Sundering of Flesh and Spirit, and was usually a too dangerous to travel through without protection. wellspring of diwa upon which Gods and Heroes The great revolutionary technologies they now possess could meditate and absorb power from, bolstering are simply pale shadows of the Golden Age’s. Crime their own Bala. Nowadays, its inherent fount of power and villainy abound, even in a world that is now can be used as a metaphysical gateway to the Espiritu. permanently enshrouded in darkness. Prayers made within a dambana are amplified, and travel to Maka quicker. The world needs heroes. Deus: More commonly known as Saint-Kings, powerful beings that have been chosen by Yavum to
carry out his will. Inspirations Diwa: The essence that flows in all things. Agos is This setting is influenced by the works of Jose Rizal, the flowing facet. Tagos is the facet that binds all things namely Noli Mi Tangere and El Filibusterismo, as well as together with fate, called Tadhana. Bala is the one that the writings of Emilio Aguinaldo in his book The True burns within every Soul. Tigas is raw diwa calcified History of the Philippine Revolution. In addition, into a lump of essence. Karanduun is inspired by the following anime, mainly Engkanto: Mystical fey beings that live within the Devilman: Crybaby, Fullmetal Alchemist: Espiritu. They are partly flesh and partly spirit, and Brotherhood, HunterXHunter, My Hero Academia, many live within the engkanto city of Biringan. They and Samurai Champloo. are made up of many different social castes that make This setting is also greatly inspired by the up different parts of their Engkanto Society. Engkanto following books: The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu, the Society is split into two different echelons: the Nobles Malazan: Book of the Fallen Series by Steven Erikson, the and the Commoners. The Nobles are made up of: the Divine Cities Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennet, the Book lipod who are the priests and speakers, The tamawo of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe, Perdido Street Station who are the diplomats and speakers, the palesekan and The Scar by China Mieville, Homer’s Iliad, Kill Six who are the hunters and assassins, and the Billion Demons by Abaddon, and the various Filipino
14 Espiritu: The Spiritual World, made up of Maka: The Skyworld, or the Heavens, also known different distances. The Near Shores are adjacent to the as the Metropolis of Clouds. The abode of the gods. natural world. The Middle Shores are the bright land Maka is both a realm and a city at the same time, where of enchanting, wicked beauty and madness. Cities can rivulets and cascades of divine ambrosia fall down be found here. The Far Shores are the realms of the great holy towers and skyscrapers. The city of Maka gods. The Farthest Reaches are the last vestiges surrounds the great Throne. It houses seven distinct understandable by a Soul. Beyond is completely alien layers, with the top parts housing the most powerful of to anybody, and the farthest are said to be other the diwata, the Apo, and with the lower parts housing planets, the dead planets. It is also known as the the heavenly diwata that do not receive as much Feywild. prayers as the Apo. It is also known as the Astral City. Far Shores, the: See Espiritu. Maligno: Malevolent beings that are dark Farthest Reaches, the: See Espiritu. counterparts of the engkanto, and are basically those Gadlum: The realm of darkness. that decided to side with Saragnayan in the Final War Heaven: See Maka. of Sunder. They are signified by their darker skin and Hell: See Sulad. redder eyes, tell-tale signs of their branding and Hiwaga: The most primal and innate of all of the loyalty to the realm of Darkness. Karanduun’s magics. It is the channeling of a Middle Shores, the: See Espiritu. Karanduun’s Bala to enact their Will upon reality Near Shores, the: See Espiritu. through their innate abilities. It is the simplest form of Sandata: The magical and divine armaments of sorcery that every Karanduun uses, and it flows the Karanduun, either forged during the time of the through them as simple as water, like flexing a muscle. Golden Age of Heroes or with the supernal sorceries Inheritance: See Sinag. and crafting of modern Karanduun. Imugi: The Heretic Devil Burners. These are Sinag: The great Divine Bathala Diwa that infuses humans that have been given the blood of a Qirong an unborn soul, granting them great power to rival the Naga, giving them a draconic appearance along with gods. great power and the ability to control the elements as Skyworld, the: See Maka. easily as they breathe. They are commonly deployed as Songworthy: See Karanduun. troops. Even now they exist, but they are a secret Sulad: The Underworld, or Hell, also known as within the Giroan Empire, and those that are found out the Kingdom of Bone. Sulad is the realm where the to be Imugi are shunned for having the blood of the Kaluluwa goes to after death. It is said that when it is Dragon Lords. day in Sanlibutan, it is night in the underworld. The Kaluluwa: The soul of those that live. Most beings souls stuck in Sulad go about their lives as if they were have seven parts to their Soul, each one being within a still alive. Those dead that are not buried with riches part of their body. Only those with Kaluluwa can or not venerated by the living are the ones that get become Karanduun. stuck in Sulad, not moving on to live in the holy annals Karanduun: The Worthy of Song, heroes of the of Maka. Some that are judged to have committed golden age, that have returned to the Time of Malice. grave transgressions are sent to Kasanaan, the lowest Katawohan: The Human race as a whole. Also depths of Sulad. known as the Children of the Bamboo. Tagos: See Diwa. Katipunan: A party of Karanduun. Tapiserya: The Whole of Reality, including all of Tungkulin: The Karanduun are divided into Sanlibutan, Sulad, Maka, and everything beyond. The different Tungkulin that represent their role or Strings of Diwa that makes everything up. aptitude to a certain approach or lifestyle. The The Waters: The Primordial Oceans of Sanlibutan, Karanduun, for example, have Tungkulin named after the body of Ulilang Kaluluwa, the Wandering Spirit. It the celestial movements during the day, being imbued is known to house all sorts of demons as well as with the power of the bathala. They’re Tungkulin are horrors of the deep, including Bakonawa. as follows: Tigas: See Diwa. • Nasirakna, the calling of the Dewed Soil. Time of Malice: The current age, also known as Rulers, administrators, and philosophers. the Fourth Time. It is a time filled with danger and • Nabahadna, the calling of Breaking Dawn. murder, disease and politics, wicked gods and horrible Warriors, Commanders, and Conquerors. malignant monsters, all upon the corpse of a once • Odto, the calling of the Noonday Sun. golden land. Performers, passionates, and teachers. Underworld: See Sulad. • Apuna, the calling of Harmonious Twilight. Usbong: Every being has Bala running through Creators, sorcerers, and sages. them. The Karanduun, when they channel large • Sakdol, the calling of the Maddened Moon. amounts of it, causes their own active Bala to burn Rebels, outcasts, and tricksters. brightly, through their skin, causing their very being to be suffused with a glowing, and they become hot to the • Igsirinto, the calling of the Abyssal Night. Hunters, spymasters, and guardians.
15 touch. This is the usbong, an emanation of Bala that fulminates, becoming the knowing mark for the Inquest shows on the skin, hair, and eyes. to weed out the Hell Dukes. Tungkulin Marks: The Karanduun’s power burns in a specific part of their body, the area where the Bala burns brightest. It illuminates as their Usbong
16 Chapter One: Setting
to reckon to, the Corpse World of Sanlibutan slowly The Karanduun crumbles away, giving in to its dark desires. You’ve all heard it before. Perhaps in the twilight of But not for long. night, when your mother or father would regale the The Karanduun return, heralded by the cry of a tales of mythic heroes or fairy tales. Or perhaps around tigmamanukan bird. The cry that resounds across the a campfire, talking about the exploits of a great culture fabric of space and time. The Karanduun return. All hero. Or even perhaps as told by the teachers during hear it. class time, talking about the great heroes that exhibit But now the Karanduun are reborn, fragile human greatness of humanity. hearts burning with epic heroic power, with more In the dark glimmer of the night, they are born. potential than before. The Saga of the Karanduun From the songs of the singers and the chants of the expands, chosen by the Actor of Power. They face new poets, they are remembered. These are the Heroes of a threats, the world of darkness mired in maligno and Golden Age now gone. halimaw, as well as the false, blinding light of the Al- But they are reborn. Reborn to a time that has Kaigians and their Saint-Kings, the Deus. They return reduced them to mere stories. to a diminished and subjugated world. And you are one of them. And they shall conclude the story of Sanlibutan according to their actions. The fate of Sanlibutan is in their hands. They will dictate whether Sanlibutan Where They Arose returns to its former glory, or descends into its In the time after the Gods, but before this Time of inevitable demise. Malice, Sinag infused the Bala of the Katawohan and In a Time of Malice, the Karanduun are reborn. only them, for they were the Children of Bamboo, and You are Karanduun: what songs will they sing of therefore inherited bamboo’s traits: hollow, pliable, you? ever strong, able to contain and keep the fulminating divinity of Maykapal’s Bathala Diwa. The Actor of Karanduun are the reborn heroes and ancient rulers Power did this because he saw the tyrannical reign of of the Golden Age, known to many as the, where they Maykaptan, the Mad Sky. He let halimaw and maligno ruled in the Sinaunang Kedatuan. The Karanduun are to roam free in the world, as well as allowing corrupt privy to a great many things, but first and foremost gods to inflict terrible diseases. they become intrinsic manipulators of Sinag, the Now the humans given with Sinag, the Light divine essence that burns through every Karanduun, Rebellious, fought back the primeval, abhorrently the divine essence given to them by the Actor of malevolent nature and world and carved out a place Power, the Most High of the Gods, Bathalang for themselves. The gods taught them war, agriculture, Maykapal. This Sinag burns within them, granting and technology, and they were led by these men and them power that bolsters their own, as well as women of considerable charisma and power, with allowing them to develop powerful abilities that grant their the Sinag burning and overflowing and them powers over specific concepts and realities of manifesting upon their skin in fulminations of majesty. creation. Some have power over winds and flurries, These people were known as Karanduun. others power over death and life. This is the grandeur and majesty of the Karanduun. Why They Disappeared The Karanduun were valiant warriors and eventually Sinag sought to end the Mad Sky’s tyrannical reign. This was not a victory. It ended in the Thousand Tears and In the world of Sanlibutan, every one of the Souled Lightnings Apocalypse, which split the world in twain, Races are granted just that: a Soul. In the tongue of into Natural and Spiritual, killed off half of the world, Lakungdulan Parawali, or Sages, the soul is known as buried ancient cities of grandeur and splendor… Kaluluwa. Things that have spirits do not necessarily ...and killed every Karanduun in existence. have Souls, you see. A bear might have a spirit, and so does a wolf-demon, a monstrous chimera, a printing Now They Are Reborn press, or a tree. In fact, they may have several Spirits The Karanduun are heroes of times now long gone, within them, but these do not constitute a Kaluluwa. product of Maykapal granting exceptional humans And it is within the Kaluluwa the Bala flows like lava. exceptional abilities. However, now in the Time of
Malice, the Karanduun have disappeared. With none
17 To possess Sinag, one must have a Kaluluwa. A accompanied with the Karanduun’s skin glowing with matrix whereupon the Bala burns. Sinag empowers the the color of his Soul, which the player chooses at Kaluluwa. No longer is the Soulbearer a Mortal. They Character Creation. are now Worthy of Song. Karanduun. LIVE FAST, LIE LOW What exactly is ‘Sinag’? This question permeates modern scholars and sages. Many speculate that it is The Karanduun are now perpetually being chased by the power of the gods, but when consulted, the gods the Al-Kaigians, especially a specific branch of the themselves deny this. In the depths of the Bamboo Yavuman Church known as the Inquest, which has Aklatan, Pamahres, Apo of Knowledge, suggests one specifically made itself to hunt down Heretics and thing: in the times now gone, so far that even Myth Blasphemers, one of such is the Karanduun. To the cannot encapsulate it, beings greater than the Apo general public of Sanlibutan at this point, everyone has roamed the Skysea, and they created worlds with their heard of the Yavuman Faith, and thus everyone knows footfalls, and destroyed it with glances. He purports the myths of the Hell Dukes, those that have come that one of these beings saw the plight of a world under from Hell to possess the Faithful and to corrupt, kill, or the Mad Sky’s Tyranny, and so blessed mortals with otherwise destroy the Empire. They are said to be so this power. This Over-Divinity. Bathala, these beings powerful that they can command Aswang and deal were called in the Sinaunang Tongue, and their Bala is with other devils Sinag. Whether this is true or not to your Karanduun is With the return of the Karanduun, sages and up to your character’s beliefs, but the truth of the scholars alike have taken to both theorizing and matter is that this is definitely just propaganda and a observing just what the prequisites are to possess the way to hunt you down. Why the myth of the mortal with Sinag. One of it is definitely a Soul, of Karanduun is written in the holy texts of the Yavuman course. But who does it come to specifically? When? Faith is something up for debate. How? Thus living low and making sure that your usbong is kept in check is the ideal way to live for The “when” is speculated to be at birth, the Sinag young Karanduun. The power of the Karanduun chooses down the lines of Kapalaran to find a fetus demands to be seen, and it roars in defiance, but be with the potential for greatness. However the truth of careful, lest you be at the mercy of the Inquest blades, the matter is that all fetuses have potential for the Deus Saint-Kings, enterprising criminal lords that greatness—it is why maligno and aswang favor eating can hold you for ransom, and seemingly benevolent unborn children—and thus the speculations run figures that only want to be your ally for their own rampant. benefit. No matter what the sages, scholars, savants, and magi do and experiment, they find that the Inheritance is fickle in its choosing. The only things that are Budding Power somewhat sureties are that the Sinag only comes to humans, and that it comes through birth, and affects The Karanduun cannot bind Greater Gifts until they the human since birth. are Level 3, and they cannot use Miracles until Level 4, when the Karanduun’s Sinag becomes overtly divine, and they have greater power and influence over the Usbong Hiwaga that they have cultivated through training and conflict. Using Words to dispel or counter appropriate Karanduun begins with one point of Subtle Effort, and hostile powers is still allowed. two points of Overt Effort, for a total of three Effort You get 1 more point of Subtle Effort at Levels 3, 6, and Tungkulin Mandatory Words 9. Every time you gain Effort from a Word or When creating a Karanduun, your first word should be advancement, add it to your Overt Effort pool and not one of your Tungkulin’s Mandatory Words. your Subtle Pool. Karanduun are also larger-than-life, Nasirakna: Endurance, Command, Wealth, allowing them to regain a point of either Subtle or Health and Passion Overt Effort whenever a player describes an action in Nabahadna: Sword, Bow, War, Might and a cool or evocative way and the GM approves of it. Command The first time a Karanduun spends a point of Odto: Passion, Music, Dance, Desire, and Sun Overt Effort, his Usbong Mark shines (see Tungkulin Apuna: Deception, Journeying, City, Wealth, and below.) This Mark appears where the player wants it Beasts to, but in-setting, it is where the Sinag and the Flesh of Tungana: Sorcery, Knowledge, Artifice, Health, the Karanduun intertwine. and Stars Once the Karanduun has spent 2 Overt Effort for Sakdol: Madness, Entropy, Deception, Moon, and the scene, he begins Burning. The Mark is Luck
18 Igsirinto: Alacrity, Night, Protection, Murder, and Sakdol: The Calling of the Maddened Moon, the Theft Rebels, Outcasts, and Tricksters. Their Mark is a black Crescent Moon within a burning white Full Tungkulin Moon.Sakdol have an invulnerable defense against all effects that read or influence their minds. Mobs or Tungkulin are the callings and aspects upon groups that are following their leadership also have which a Karanduun’s destiny is staked. They are this immunity, but not to the Sakdol's own gifts. auspices that showcase a Karanduun’s fate and Igsirinto: The Calling of the Abyssal Night, the expertise. Hunters, Spymasters, and Guardians. Their mark is an Maykapal directed the movements of the opaque ring. The power to go where they are not Karanduun, seven in all, each corresponding with the permitted; locks and seals open instantly for them, cycle of the day, from the first breaking of dawn upon whether mundane or magical. Even magical barriers the earth to the deepest of nights. Thus, He made the can be penetrated by Committing Effort for the scene. seven different Tungkulin, each one showing the Igsirinto have no chance to fail humanly-possible aptitudes or roles of a Karanduun within a Katipunan attribute checks related to stealth or agile movement and a society. It is important to note that a Tungkulin unless actively opposed by a worthy foe. is not a pigeonhole, many concepts can overlap, and they often do, seeing as how humans actually are in Hiwaga real life. Nasirakna: The Calling of the Dewed Soil, the A Hiwaga is the natural manifestation of a Rulers, Administrators, and Philosophers. Their Mark Karanduun's Sinag over reality--the powerful Bathala is a solid, unshining circle surrounded by arrayed Diwa is the Essence of the Beings that existed even rocks. Once per scene, they can command any lesser before Sanlibutan. foe and have it be obeyed instantly, provided it is not Each Karanduun only has one Hiwaga, but the contrary to the victim’s nature and can be completed Hiwaga has many different facets, like a diamond or a within the scene. This may also be used against a mob prism. These facets are the Words, Words that make up or crowd of lesser foes, but the command must not be the Hiwaga. The Words are, simply put, the “words” something greatly objectionable to the greater mob that complete the sentence of the Hiwaga. No two mentality. Karanduun have the same Word, because Hiwaga are Nabahadna: The Calling of the Rising Day, the wholly unique. ie. Caem's Fire Facet is his, and his Warriors, Commanders, and Conquerors. Their Mark flames are different compared to another Karanduun's is an eight-rayed sunburst. Their weapon or unarmed Fire Word. attacks always hit lesser foes. In-setting, the Words do not exist as discrete, Odto: The Calling of the Zenith Sun, the separate things. However, the names for them exist so Performers, Passionates, and Teachers. Their Mark is a as to help describe an individual Karanduun's pure burning golden circle. Once per day, the Odto capabilities with her Hiwaga. Please refer to the may choose to make every ally, Mobs and NPCs Godbound Core Rulebook and Lexicon of the Throne included, within a mile of her share her current for what Words you may use. Charisma score and use your Charisma Modifier as a bonus for all rolls they make including damage. Born, not Chosen Apuna: The Calling of the Harmonious Twilight, the Mediators, Shamans, and Travelers. The Apuna creates a powerful, metaphysical bond between two The Karanduun heroes are not Chosen, they are Born. living beings by drinking each other’s blood within a Specifically, the Sinag that carries the burning, goblet. Once done, the two are bound between the overwhelming power of the Karanduun seek out those mystical oath of Sanduguan. If any of the people part humans that have the potential to great things, and of the Sanduguan break the pact, the Apuna can use uplift them even more. There is no way to divine this one power or attack on them as if the he was present, choosing process—even the Biraddali cannot discern with the victim having no chance to resist or dodge the it. It is more or less theorized that the Receptacles are effect and any damage or effect rolls being maximized. filled with the mind of Maykapal. Tungana: The Calling of the Thousand Stars, the When these great heroes are born, it is almost Creators, Sorcerers, and Sages. Their Mark is a circle always with a strange circumstance. This is the main surrounded by five stars. They have an intrinsic thing that binds every Karanduun together. Unlike command of manipulating the fabric of Diwa, or Biraddali, who are divined and then immediately sorcery. They may dispel a theurgic invocation or low picked up by the Kawanihan. Or the Aswang, whose magic spell as an instant action, or use their action to ranks are chosen by the Black Bird. The Karanduun are cast a sorcery spell without the usual cost for quick- born under unforeseen, extraordinary circumstances. cast. They can sense magic within an object or an area Sometimes it’s a strange omen, the croaking of a with a Round’s attention. million frogs in a place without any frogs, the chilling
19 of wind, the sight of snow. Sometimes it is from the achievement are the purview of the Karanduun, and child itself. They will come out and they will they can surmount any obstacle they face if only they immediately speak a word, or they will be able to grab can believe in the power of themselves. a sword or shield and slay a man with it. These During this time, they will be given enough raw extraordinary births are hallmarks of a Karanduun’s power to overcome the current obstacle, and then for journey, and is more or less the call to divinity. the next few hours until the next major movement of Karanduun grow up faster than most. By the time the day (such as Noon after Morning), their eyes will 10 years have passed, the Karanduun is akin to an continue to burn, their Marking will continue to glow, adolescent. They are prodigies, able to learn to do and their usbong will not cease to and fulminate. things that only professionals in their field can. Playing Power bolsters them and burns them, sending them a musical instrument skillfully, defeating a master into a fever of majesty… until it dies out, and they are swordsman even if they are only child, etc. By the time only left in whatever event they are in. But the they reach eighteen years of age, most Karanduun are Karanduun is aware during this time. They will most matured, and have the physical and mental capabilities likely be escaping, trying to get away with their life, as of a full-grown adult. This is not to say that they will the enemies of the Karanduun try to remove them, or die early. Quite the opposite—the Karanduun live far the allies try to recruit them. But the Karanduun longer than any other, usually lasting three hundred to requires solitude. Truly, the newly Awakened a thousand years before succumbing to the effects of Karanduun will require a period of silence and entropy. solitude to properly allow the fulminating Karanduun As they are growing, they are usually sought after Bala to fuse with his own Kaluluwa. In so doing, a new by anito or other beings that know of the Karanduun, Karanduun is born, burning with the power for greater but this is by no means a common thing. Most things. Biraddali avoid meddling with Tadhana directly, and those that do are part of the Orakulo Faction, who divine the future and seek to work with the Karanduun to bring them to return the world to what it once was, basically rebuilding the Sinaunang Kedatuan. Nature of the Tapiserya
Tapiserya is the word given by the ancient God of Awakening Knowledge Apung Pamahres to the whole of the world from Sulad to Maka. Thus, this is what most of Even with this strange upbringing, most people will the people call it now, although the Al-Kaigians call it just think of the Karanduun to be a weird child. One Telurian. The Tapiserya is a world full of danger, and with weird abilities, but weird abilities are definitely one that houses two worlds within itself. Outside of the not something that is out of place within the Empire’s Tapiserya is the Beyond, where, some say, the world-view. However, the undeniable truth of worth destroyed planets lie. comes in the event known as the Awakening, where their Bala suddenly fluctuates, beats, and then The world of Karanduun is known as the becomes alive, and the Karanduun Diwa takes ahold Sanlibutan, and the Sanlibutan is part of the great of their mortal vessel, suddenly pushing them to their cosmic realm known as the Tapiserya. The World of limits. The newly Awakened suddenly burns with the Karanduun is very much unique in several ways. color of their soul, which is usually connected to what Sanlibutan is a fractured world, where people fight Tungkulin they have Awakened to, and their sword, faith, and word over a land that is the corpse of Tungkulin Mark burns in whichever place their a primordial god. Kaluluwa burns brightest. The most common area is It is oft-whispered about by the Apo, that the the forehead, but the shoulder, breast, and the back are Universe is made up of seven cosmic layers. Although also all not out of the question. this has been subject to much deciphering and thought This blessed moment of Awakening usually by natural philosophers, much is still unknown at the happens during a time of great tribulation, where the extremities. One thing is known for sure -- they cannot current event and context calls for the Karanduun to be sure that there is an Abyss, nor a Throne. It was only call forth power that is far beyond them… power that knowledge given to them by Pamahres, God of rests within them. A warrior might be fending off great Knowledge. Some parawali put the Below as the First swathes of maligno with a rusted sword to protect his Stratum, whereas others put the Above as the First evacuating barangay, when the mark of the Rising Sun three Layers. It does not matter. Such arbitrary burns on his right hand and his rusted sword is categorizations are trifles of mortals. suddenly enveloped with a great bright sunblaze. The main tenet for Awakening is always a time of great tribulation. One where the Karanduun is called to be greater than what they already are. Greatness and
20 It is guarded by Sitan, guardian of the Underworld, and it can be traveled to by sea, through Magu'yawan, Below by river, by the Crocodile Psychopomp God Apung Buwaya, or by seeking out various passageways in the The First three layers of the Universe is made up of the grounds, navigating a complex, all leading to things below the earth. the Lingay, a rock that all Souls will pass to, before you meet Sitan. The Underworld is ruled over by Panlinugun, God of the Underworld, and causer of Earthquakes. Abyss The Waters flows into the Underworld, thus why Something toils restlessly within the nothingness of the Magu'yawan is also the ferry of the dead. The rivers of Abyss. the great mountains -- when followed to their end -- can cause a mortal to arrive at the Underworld, and if they survive, the Spirit Underworld as well. The Waters
This is the seas, and the domain of Maguyawan, the The Middle Guiding Waters and Psychopomp of the Dead. She makes sure that the souls that die are ferried to the There is only one realm in the Middle, and it is Underworld. This layer makes up every source of arguably the most important one, for it is the center of water, from the sea, to the oceans, to the rivers. It is the universe. This realm is Sanlibutan. why, it is said, that one can find water underneath the ground. If one were to bury all the way past the world, one would find the Waters. The Midworld, or Sanlibutan. Many of the aquatic races live within, such as the siokoy, magindara, and the tiburon. This is the flat realm of the Mortal Races and the engkanto who have not become diwata. The diwata A giant crab that is the son of the Child Moon God live here as well, although in the realm of Spirit, and Bu’an, named Tambanokano, who lives in the Sea, thusly are invisible to the naked eye. The Anito also blocking the Hole to the Abyss. This place is known as walk this land as well if they are allowed by Sui-dapa the Navel of the Sea. When he leaves, the waters rush to cross, or manage to ask Magu-yawan to ferry them into the hole, causing low tide, but when he inhabits it back, or if they manage to trick Suimuran and once again, the high tide returns. He is so powerful that Siginarugan, the two giant guardians of the when he blinks his eyes lightnings flash, and the great underworld, or if Pandaki manages to save them from waves of the sea are because of his movements within the Underworld. the Waters. Sanlbiutan is mostly made up of various islands, as the Waters still dominates all. center of the world is the The Underworld, or Sulad Archipelago itself, named Lakungdula by human scholars. The rest of the world is waters, with other islands existing. The Underworld in the Natural world is the abode of the creatures that live within the earth, the hot flames At the borders of the world are the Jaws. These are the underneath the earth, and the vast kingdoms of earth- ends of the earth, and you will fall off, or be crushed dwelling engkanto and maligno, including duwende by the jaws. One should possess impeccable timing to and the others. Lately, beings from the Spirit be able to jump through the Jaws of the Horizon, and Underworld, known as Sulad or Hell in other cultures, arrive bodily into the Skyworld, or Maka. have been seeping into the Natural Underworld, whereas amalanhig and aswang have begun to threaten the kingdoms of the duwende. Pandaki is Above known to inhabit the Natural Underworld. Portals to the Near Shore of the Underworld, known as Sulad, exist in every nook and cranny, whether it be a small shrine of bone and flesh, or a never-ending hole that The Skies only fits one person, or a huge maw of a cave underneath an underground cave. Sulad is where ALL This is the realm of air that exists above the earth. It is the souls go to once they die. the abode of the Lipod, and they share this with other
21 air creatures such as the bentohangin, the winged half- Agos, Diwa echoing Water. This is the normal state horse, half human, and the kubot, a bird that resembles of Diwa, the Diwa that makes up all things. a flying kite. It is also here that the corpses of Adlaw, Tagos, Diwa echoing Air. This is the Diwa that Bulan, and Suga exist the Sun, Moon, and Stars binds things together. It can be manipulated at this respectively and wheel about the sky. Similarly to the level, and if one were to have some means of seeing the natural Underworld, this can be seen as the Natural invisible machinations of the gods, they will see tiny part of Maka. Once one goes into the Near Shores, they strands that link everything to everything, as well as arrive at… the Diwata that embody everything. Diwa in this state can be known as “Fate”, and indeed, the Agents of Heaven call this Tadhana. Tagos permeates all things, The Skyworld, or Maka can fill something, and can even nudge the direction of reality. The Espiritu, or the Spirit World, is made This is the realm of the Apo, and it resides above the almost entirely of Tagos, and manipulation of Tagos Skies. This is also the abode of human mediums and can lead to travel into Espiritu. intermediaries as they speak with the anito of the Skies, Bala, Diwa echoing Fire. This is the Diwa that burns or the Apo. Not much is known about the Skyworld, within every living being, and everything is a living other than it having one section where the Soul of being because everything has a diwata. The Human every living thing is kept within tight clay jars. This Eight-Point Soul is made up of this Burning Diwa, and section is guarded by a being with eight heads and a so are the powerful essences of the Karanduun. thousand eyes, whom one Apo has called Walo. Burning Diwa can be used to affect other states -- most Among the heroes that have managed to jump across commonly by having a lot of Burning Diwa, you have the Jaws of the World and live, and come back to tell more say in how reality works. Thus why Burning the tale, they spoke sang of a grand and vast city of Diwa in all beings is known as “Bala”, or “Power”. It is white ivory towers and pure spiritual rivers coursing their measure of capability, and it is well known that through everything. The city itself was unmatched in the Karanduun possess “Unlocked” Bala, which allows glory, and had seven layers upon it, upon the seventh their Bala to transcend event that of Gods. of which the Apo conglomerated. Those diwata that are not given enough prayer live in the most bottom stratum of Maka, toiling in divine poverty. Sinag, Diwa echoing the Primordial Power. This is a special kind of Bala that has been released into the world after the Thousand Tears and Lightnings The Throne Apocalypse. Sinag burns and it propels those that accrue it to greater heights, burning with power and The Throne belongs to the supreme being to which the divinity and grace and radiance. These are the Bala that rest of the anito answer to, and to which the Diwata our Heroes are made of. confer, and this supreme being is Maykaptan, the Mad Tigas, Diwa echoing Earth. This is similar to Sky. This place is also where the spirits of good people Flowing, except it is raw Diwa turned into matter. It go to after they are saved by Pandaki. In this layer can usually manifests as a colorless glowing lump that is be found the Tree of Life, where the name of every infinitely malleable, similar to clay. Some might say person to ever have lived is written, carved by Sui- that the diwata, when they materialize, are in this dapa himself from the Mountain of Madja-as. Calcified state, and when they dematerialize, returning to the spirit, they are in the Permeating state. All beings have Bala. Particularly powerful beings Diwa -- such as Gods or Mortals or Spirits -- can actually raise their Bala, making them stronger and granting Diwa is both the building block and the string upon them power. Karanduun have access to a powerful which all of reality is spun. It permeates all things, and Heroic Bala that spurs them to greater heights, exists in varying states of matter. In a manner of allowing them greater success in a dead world. speaking, that chair you see in front of you is Diwa, in a given form. Break it down to its most essential Gaining and raising Bala can be two ways: either components and you shall see Diwa. by killing living beings with Bala, or by cultivating it through sheer meditation. “Divinity through However, Diwa can be used more than that. It bloodshed” is a common saying echoed surprisingly exists in four states: across every vein of religious thought, from Omism to the Yavuman Faith and Dayawan Scripts. Cultivation
through meditation is longer and takes a more pacifistic route, meditating in various natural spots in
22 the world that have lots of Tagos Diwa that they can However, they are more “human” in their absorb and turn into Bala. Eating the heart of way of thinking, and can get desperate when something or stealing their heads is a great way to earn required, especially in the decadent large amounts of Bala. metropolis of Maka. Most Heavenly Diwata live in Maka, the Skyworld, but that is not a Spirits mandatory thing. Bu-an and Sui-dapa both There are three kinds of Spirits, as categorized by the live in the Mountain of Madja-as, for joint work of Al-Kaigian Essudio de Idjidio, and example, and Mayari, the Crescent Moon, is Dayawan Guro Magadla. They are the Diwata, Anito, nowhere to be found. and Umalagad. It is not impossible to rise in the hierarchy. What one The Diwata are the Spirits of Nature. They are the ones needs are Prayers, which is a currency in the Society of that embody everything -- there is a Diwata of a stone, the Diwata. Prayers directly power diwata, granting of waterfalls, of trees, of lightning, of justice, of storms, them more power, bolstering their Bala and giving of the sky. In addition, they have their own society, them a place in the hierarchy of power. Thus why which is now the Invisible Society hidden in Spirit. The diwata are need humans, and mortals as a whole, to Hierarchy is as follows: worship them. A more powerful form of Prayer is Sacrifice. • At the bottom of the rung are the Minor Diwata, or Lambana. Lambana are usually Generally, the act of Praying is something that can non-sentient, existing only as an bolster any Bala, provided that it is sufficient. Mortal embodiment, and do not have “human” Bala needs exponentially more prayers than a diwata thought. Unlike other Diwata, a specific thing does for the purposes of rising in power. or concept might have multiple Lambana Diwata hold the Karanduun in both respect and attached to them. They usually materialize as contempt. Respect because they are the ones that floating sprites, in various sizes ranging from fought against the tyranny of the Mad Sky, as well as anthropomorphic to platonic (cubes, spheres, generally helping the diwata gain prayers during the flat circles). Sinaunang Kedatuan. Some of them hold the Karanduun in contempt because they were born with • Next are the Earthly Diwata, or simply, the capacity to become better than them. Diwata. These are Diwata that are already sentient, and are capable of “human” Katalonan are humans (and Karanduun) that bargain thought. They exist in a state of being and speak and exchange pleasantries with all types of separate of their embodiment, and can have Diwata. Usually, a Katalonan would allow a diwata to emotions, although they still reflect what they possess them, in a process known as Taruna which embody, and are ultimately that which they means “Help” in the ancient Diwatan speech. This embody. They also usually have very alien ritual which would last for hours would be used to conceptions of emotions, as they are not privy possess the body of the medium, and the two would to normal human emotional limits. A river combine. The Katalonan would have access to the Diwata might fall in love with a mortal man, powers of a Diwata. Minor Diwata are the easiest to but their emotions might be rushing like the perform Tolona with. Heavenly Diwata usually takes river, and she will leave him in the next days to perform the ritual with, made up of long instant as a river pushes against a large rock prayers, a sung epic, intricate dances, and numerous that bars its way. She may express regret, but sacrifices. she will never return to that man. Such is the nature of earthly diwata. There are some Katalonan that focus on channeling a single type of Spirit. Those that are more adept in • The highest on the rung are Heavenly channeling Anito are known as Anitowan, and those Diwata, or the Apo. These are the most that are more adept in channeling the Diwata are powerful of the Diwata, and are “Gods” in the known as Diwateros. modern sense of the word -- powerful beings
that possess greater power than humans. Currently it is said that the most powerful The Anito are the spirits of old humns and great Apo is the Mad Sky, Maykaptan, although ancestors. Ancestral Spirits, as they are called, are the should the Actor of Power return there would spirits of a specific person’s long-dead Ancestor, a be a Clash of Strengths. Apo can embody great warrior may be an Anito, or a wise sage. more than just one concept or natural object. Similarly to the Diwata, anito are prayed to by their They can embody fire as much as they can families as ancestor worship is prevalent in the islands, embody war. They can embody disease as even in the midst of colonization. The more prayers the much as they can embody the rainbow. ancestor gets, the more power he earns in the afterlife,
23 which is either trudging around Sulad or living it up in it has three different Shores, which measure how far Maka. Most anito, when prayed to, are most happy to they are from the Natural World. give advice and even concrete help, such as a family heirloom, or a piece of potent magic. They can also possess a being, and can also be the target of a Dambanas Katalonan. Sometimes, though, they would do it voluntarily. When the Spheres of Natural and Spiritual were Umalagad are guardian spirits. They are either sundered, the two halves of the same whole still clung anito or diwata that have been bound, by their own to each other, even as their metaphysical, spiritual link will, to protect either a house or a particular person. frayed. In the time of Malice, this unwillingness to Most people earn more Guardian Spirits as time pass, completely disconnect are seen in Dambanas. and this renders them more impervious to diseases Dambanas are powerful confluxes of spiritual power and helps them wither strikes, but not death itself. that appear out in the world. They are not exactly part Karanduun usually have powerful Umalagad that of the Espiritu, but rather, are parts of the natural that grant them a number of powers and gifts. still have a strong connection to the Espiritu. Most dambanas are great places of worship and ritual, and truly, many of the Apo use dambanas as their altars. Espiritu and Gadlum Dambanas are natural places of power. They could be a special lake, a great mountain, a clearing in the forest, a desert of fine embers, a field of black glass, a hot The two realms of Espiritu and Gadlum are polar springs complex, or even a cliff face overlooking the opposites of each other, standing on two sides of the sea. Dambanas are natural places of grandeur and cosmological axis. The realm of Espiritu is much geomantic splendor. younger than the realm of Gadlum. They are both called by many names. Espiritu is called the Enchanted Most dambanas are also protected, kept safe and away Place at times, due to it being the home of the wicked by virtue of the diwata that surround them. These fey engkanto and being full of chaotic, unbridled places are known as Sanctums, and are most prevalent magik, whereas the Gadlum, the Shadowed Realm, for within the forests, where tamawo and palesekan and shades and wraiths and chained souls as well as other engkanto honor the virtue of Sanctums. shadowed engkanto live here, subservient to the will Dambanas can usually be condensed in power into a of Saragnayan, Lord of Darkness. small, usually stone or wooden figure, known as Larauan. Most of the time, Larauauns are human shape, and house Umalagad within, and thus is where The Spirit World, or Espiritu the Espiritu is connected, through the spirit living within the Larauan. The Spirit World is known under many names, such as "Diwa", "The Spirit", the "Shadow", and the "Feywild" to Al-Kaigian faithful but it is usually known as The Near Shores “Espiritu”. The Spirit World is the darkly reflecting mirror of the Natural World. After the sundering of the This is the Espiritu right beside the Natural World, or spheres due to the Thousand Lightnings and Tears otherwise right underneath the skin of reality. This is Apocalypse, most of the Diwata have withdrawn to the the least populated Shore. Most Minor Diwata drift Spirit World, and have been there for a thousand years. through this Shore, anchored to whatever they In the present day, Diwata of greater age or power tend embody in the Natural World. A Diwata can simply to be more alien and harder to understand than materialize into the Natural World from the Near younger ones. Heavenly Diwata, Apo, tend to either be Shore. Most Engkanto Societies exist here as well, and of the two extremes -- either they are too human in truly there are even physical passages (known as their dealings, too prone to passion, or they are too Hedges) to the societies of the Engkanto, such as the cold and distant, too alien. tamawo Biringan, and the duwende Kingdom of When a Spirit is dematerialized, it is currently skulking Libing-Libing. The Near Shores are near perfect through the Espiritu. Since the Espiritu is the reflection replicas of the Natural World, save that everything is of the Natural World, it is actually there, and more malleable. It is well known that mortals that hypothetically, there are always Spirits about you, they simply seek to go from one place to another might are just impossible to interact with. cross the wrong thicket, and might end up in the Near Shores. Following a tikbalang or a tamawo's footsteps But that is not always the case. The Spirit World is not might lead you through a series of intertwining perfectly parallel to the Natural World. Truly, in fact, branches and vines and esoteric rabbit holes that lead
24 to the Espiritu. Thus they warn to never stray off into the forest, or walk away from the trail blazed. Beyond
The Middle Shores In the beyond it is impossible to describe. Some say this is where other universes exist. Others say one can find the Five Principle Spindle of the Great Weaver. In these Farther than Near Shores, but one can physically travel areas, Mortals and Karanduun are subject to powerful from the Near Shores deeper and deeper and find mind-vexing truths -- their Souls are not meant to be themselves lost within the Middle Shores. It would there, after all. The longer they spend in the Beyond, if take Spiritual Travel to the Near Shore before the being they even reach it, the more they are contorted, and the can materialize. Most Diwata Societies exist here in the more they are barred from entering back into the Middle Shores, as well as the rich Anito that have been Creation. allowed passage by the guardians of Sulad. Here the world is less of a mirror and more of a shadow, with the shadows able to controlled and changed. The Kalilim Forest in the Natural World might not be the Gadlum same in the Middle Shores. The realm of darkness. The Kingdom of sorrows. The plane of shadows. The Far Shores The realm of Gadlum is known this and more. Most information and knowledge of the great shadow realm Thee Farthest Shores, and the last of the Shores that are was gleaned by a team of morbid savants and witches, safe. Within these Shores are Maka to the metaphysical the most prominent among them being Savandra, a up, and Sulad to the metaphysical down. The only mystisa who learned the ways of a mangkukulam, thing that separates the two is the Great Ocean. Unlike became a barangan, and eventually focused to hone the Near and the Middle Shores, these are not anymore her Salamangka. reflections of the Natural World. Maka is a completely autonomous society filled with decadent apo and The great Savantress Savandra revealed to the greater diwata, spirit-gangs and triads, and even syndicates of scholarly community of Zuhayras that Gadlum is a gods that rule the poor quarter of Heavenly Diwata realm that resides very much near the underworld of that are not receiving any prayer. Sulad, but not quite. Here, the forces of darkness and evil chain the ghosts of those not buried with great To the South, the land of Sulad is bleaker, but quieter riches or not prayed for by their descendants, those and a hell of a lot more peaceful. Most of them follow without family, and give them false promises of "a the rules of Siginarugan and Suimuran, the two better life, better than Maka". Of course, these were all guardian giants of Hell who also keep Souls within hollow. They became beings that served in the Ebony Jars. The formal ruler of the Underworld is Empire of Saragnayan and the Dalaketnon. Beings that Magu’yawan, as the Ocean covers the Earth. The become chained in this way become known as "multu" Guardian of the Underworld is Sitan, a powerful god as they are privy to entering the world of Sanlibutan of death and a guardian spirit. Saragnayan is here, easily through spriritual convergences between the chained outside and far from his realm of darkness and Natural and Shadow known as "anino", or "shadow". shadows, known as the Gadlum, protected by legions These haunted souls seek release from the shadowy of automata warriors made by Golden Age Panday. chains of Gadlum. The anino demesnes are crossing places, places within the world tinged with dark and shadowy diwa. If a The Farthest Reaches mortal were to walk into an anino, there is a great chance that they might be pulled into Gadlum itself. The last vestiges of things understandable by the Most aninos are usually places of great death, or vistas Human Soul. It is the event horizon right before total of corpses without proper burial, or a place where dark chaos. It is here that the other planets -- now destroyed magics has unfolded. -- used to exist. In addition, it is here where, in the Metaphysical up, resides the Throne of Heaven, which Within Gadlum, the air is thin, and the colors are has been unaccessible for a thousand years. It is also muted. It is rare to see more than just black and white where, in the Metaphysical down, exists utter in this realm, where the land is in eternal night. Oblivion, guarded by Bakonawa and the two giants of Outside of the obsidian walls of the various city-states the Underworld, Suimuran and Siginarugan. that thrive within, filled with dalaketnon and other engkanto of the itim faction, such as agta, duwende itim, and their sigbin dogs, ghouls of all stripes roam
25 the eternally black lands and occasionally white sands the Thousand Islands, now known as Zuhayras, (which is ground bonedust) of the realm of Gadlum. Liway, Tabun, and T'kapi. There are no stars nor moon in this realm.
Perhaps, most malevolent of all, is Gadlum's ability to taint. If a person should enter here, black darkness and • Zuhayras is the heart of the world, the center shadow immediately begins to tinge the person's heart, of trade and the first world colony. In its enticing him more and more to fall into the abyssal wicked, horrid heart beats the Indigo darkness. This is how the perverted and twisted Metropolis, made of 7 cities, a grotesque mirrors of the Karanduun, the Lingkag, are born. They steam complex powered by the essence of are not worthy of song but rather, singers of dirges. slain diwata and anito. Due to the sheer size and constant trade, other races have created It should be known that various Aswang also live dynasties and families and homes here, within Gadlum, and almost all of them command some turning the Indigo Metropolis into the largest form of political power within the shadow politics of cultural melting pot in the whole pot. All the place. Many of them are preparing for the things are possible here in the Metropolis of imminent strike into Sanlibutan and eventually to Indigo. The largest library in Sanlibutan, Espiritu, to free Saraganayan. Of course, the return of known as the Indigo Librarium, is the largest the Karanduun have thrown a wrench into those plans. collection of books and scrolls across the entire Sanlibutan.
Located somewhere in Zuhayras, is said to be Time of Malice a huge mountain that, if hiked up to the peak, one will find Mountain of Madja-as, which Despite the name, the Time of Malice was a majestic, houses the Tree of Life at the top, as well as beautiful thing. Close your eyes and imagine a flat the gates to Maka. world, surrounded by bony Jaws. Upon this flat earth are grand vistas, tropical rainforests, waterfalls Think Revolutionary Philippine Era, with a cascading down into boulders where nature gods sit bit of the Commonwealth Era aesthetics (but and make merry, rivers run down to small villages without cars) but with the diversity of where the people wash their clothes, down to the sea Modern Philippines. where the water is drenched in blood, churning because of the ongoing war between a pirate fleet of • Liway is the country to the west, unbowed natives and the colonial empire. This is the Time of yet by Al-Kaig, and practitioners of Malice. It is a time that trudges on, but like a boat on Dayawism. Their current political climate is the edge of a waterfall, is simply veering into disaster. made up of the three Kedatuans that fight against each other in a bid for the throne of The world of Sanlibutan is mired in darkness. The the Lakan of the Makkalan Lakandom. Think naturebound Halimaw, the Hellspawn Yawa, and the Pre-Colonial Philippines and Majapahit blighted Maligno all roam the world as if they were its near the Seas and the island Kingdoms, but kings. The Thousand Islands of Zuhayras are filled more of Ayutthaya Kingdom Thailand and with forests that seep into either the Espiritu or Khmer Empire Cambodia nearer the Gadlum, and some even send poor souls to Sulad mainland. directly. Hinterlands, wildernesses, seas and rivers are filled with monstrous gawigawen, pack-hunting • Tabun is the blessed island of the gods, and sigben, carnivorous tiburones, and the ocean imperial one can see most of the Apo talking and magindara. residing here. It is protected by powerful god storms and only those worthy or have the The mortalfolk and engkanto that have survived the sanciton of the Apo of Weather, Apung Thousand Tears and Lightnings Apocalypse have Anitun Tabu, may pass and trade with the managed to rebuild bastions of safety, sanctuaries abundant wealth within its forests and within the sea of darkness, points of light in the mountains. Think of Batanes and Cordillera darkened world. The following are the Empires that Region Philippines. have managed to become points of light in this world of darkness, creating large sanctuaries where mortal • T’Kapi is an island now ruled by the life can flourish once again... but once they go out the dalaketnon Empire of Ija Yawa, but now the walled bastions, they will be subject to the dangers of Fahurian belief has empowered the humans the sundered world. that live alongside its coast, and a mounting offensive against the dalaketnon has begun. The Lakungdulan Archipelago is the Archipelago Think of Mindanao and the Sulu Sultanate. Continent in the middle of the world. It is composed of
26 Hiraga is the Northern Continent. It is also split into total world domination. Think Modern two -- the Peninsular Region is where the Holy China but with Serpent-Dragon people. Yavuman Empire of Al-Kaig heads their world- spanning empire. Above the Peninsular Region is the • The Insect Kingdom of Hotaru have begun Galadarian Mountains, which serves as a hard, their first steps into conquest, and have begun geographical barrier, separating the Peninsular Region to launch attacks against the harbor of Giro’jji, from the Frozen Salvagewastes. who has been experiencing relative peace for the last decade. Think Sengoku Era Japan but • Al-Kaig, its capital on the Kivhran Peninsula with Beetle Samurai, Moth Priests, and Ant and its influence spreading across every place Peasants. in the Southern Salvage Lands. Al-Kaig is one Sur Janubia is the Southern Desert Continent, filled of the most powerful empires in the world, with broken ruins. To tread through the flammable and they hold within their ranks powerful sands of the Aljaggian Desert, south of the more fertile Saint-Kings known as Deus that have been Avkassian Crescent, one must ride on Sur Janubian chosen by Yavum, granting them the power Jackals that grow up to four feet tall, rippling with to rival Celestial Beings. The capital is muscle. The only Point of Light here is the Coastal Phaedrus, a city of wonders and marvels, Trade City of Effisia, which is based on a salvage dieselpunk in aesthetic. Currently led by culture thanks to all the ruins and salvages, built up by Holy Kaisar Yunus, this Empire has spread its Fahurians and have since created a great cultural wings to the south, colonizing the Thousand monolith within the South, causing most of the Islands and establishing trade with the City- Southern civilizations to convert into Fahurianism. State of Effisia, Giro’jji, Qirong, and lately travelled Northwest to the Continent of • Effisia is a city-state built by the Abba Fahur, Oghrem to meet the “Lionhearted”. the head of Fahurianism. Along with that, Effisia has put to good use the vast amount of Imagine Spain and Greece but more or less artifacts and relicts that lie underneath the Christian or Zoroastrian. Sur Janubian Desert, and thus they have bolstered their trade with promises of great • To the west of Al-Kaig, far from the center of Aghaman marvels and gadgets. Despite power which is the Kivhran Peninsula, lies being mainly Fahurian, all faiths are the Myriad Kingdoms. While all technically respected here, and it is ruled by a Naga under the Emperor of Al-Kaig, they each have Senator Rabbo. The third largest library in their own rulers and function more or less Sanlibutan (next to the mystical Aklatan), the like independent city-states. Library of Kiansiasen, is located here, Silanan is the Eastern Continent, split into two. The allowing those that travel to share books. Near East, where the Giro'jji Kingdom lives, and the
Utter East, where the Grand Naga Empire of Qirong Think Greece or Athens or Egypt but with plots domination. Science Fantasy magitech.
• Giro’jji is the Empire of the Girin, the serpent-tiger that bit the dragon. They are ruled by a powerful noble caste made up of humans that burn with the blood of the Qirong Naga, granting them power over the elements. These are called Imugi. Giro’jji is a very militant state, and has been dedicating itself to absolute protection of its nation, for it faces threats from every side. The Capital is Kyeol, a powerful kingdom made of silk, jade, and bamboo, but burning with the spiritual light as they bind various shin, or nature spirits (their translation of diwata) into creating energy for them.Think Joseon or Goreyo Era Korea or Han Dynasty China.
• The Naga Empire of Qirong rules past the Spine of Bakunawa, separating the Near East and the Utter East. There the crumbling yet still proud and indomitable nation of the Qirong stands, readying for either civil war or
27 still modified by Dexterity, but you suffer Character Creation penalties to your Saves with Medium and To create a character, go down the following steps. Heavy armor. AC can never go above 20. 11. Write down your Hit Points. Determine your 1. Think of your Concept. Condense your Hit Points by rolling 1d8 + 2 + Constitution. concept into two or three words, such as 12. Note down your Base Attack Bonus (BAB). “Sword-for-Hire, Traveling Swordsman, At level 1, this is +1. Betrayed Maiden, etc.” 13. Start with 0 Wealth. Money in Karanduun 2. Determine your Attributes. There are six doesn’t usually matter. However, buying attributes. Spread 2, 1, 0, 0, 0 and -1 across all more grandiose things would require higher of them. wealth levels. 3. Choose your Tungkulin. Your Tungkulin 14. Record your Effort and Influence. Starting will inform your character and your Skill Effort is 1 Subtle and 2 Overt. You begin with choices. One of your first Skills must be from 2 Influence. below. That Skill begins at Rank-0. 15. Determine your Usbong Color. Choose a 1. Nasirakna excel in Lead, Minister, color that burns whenever you Commit Effort Heal, Exert and Survive. or Burn Sinag. This can be red, blue, magenta, 2. Nabahadna excel in Slash, Shoot, or more specific like, gold with red specks. Brawl, Exert and War. 16. Record your Name and your Goal. Goal is 3. Odto excel in Heal, Lead, Perform, something set by you, and this is usually Pray, and Work something large and ambitious, as befitting of 4. Apuna excel in Contact, Talk, Trade, the Karanduun. Your Name should reflect the Ride and Sail. culture you came from in Sanlibutan. 5. Tungana excel in Cast, Craft, Know, Notice, and Work Attributes 6. Sakdol excel in Brawl, Contact, A Karanduun is mighty. She is blessed since birth, and Lead, Sneak, and Survive so she is marked early by her capacity. Attributes are 7. Igsirinto excel in Notice, Shoot, the inherent capabilities of a Karanduun hero. Each Sneak, Talk, and Work one of them can go up to 3, and go down to -2. 4. Pick you Skills. After picking your Sometimes they can go up to 4. That means the highest Tungkulin Skill, choose three Skills to put at score is 4, while the lowest score is -2. Rank-0. You may also choose to raise your
Tungkulin Skill to Rank-1, but only have two There are six Attributes in all: Strength, Dexterity, Skills left to put at Rank-0. Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. 5. Decide your Bonds and Beliefs. Create three
Bonds and Beliefs. Bonds are your people, Strength is the measure of your physical power. things, or places that you hold dear or are This Attribute is added to hit and damage rolls. somehow important to you. Beliefs are beliefs Dexterity is the Karanduun’s agility and reflex, and principles and virtues you hold true to and ability to move quickly. Add this to your Armor your heart. You must always have at least 1 Class, and to hit and damage rolls of Ranged and Light Bond and 1 Belief in the three that you create. Weapons. 6. Create your Hiwaga. The divine concepts of Constitution is the Karanduun’s hardiness and reality that your Hero has power over, physical toughness. Add this to the Karanduun’s Hit expressed through his Hiwaga. Pick three Points, although a negative value cannot drop it lower Facets. Remember to record the special at Level 1. abilities or Intrinsic Benefits of your Words. Intelligence is the Karanduun’s capability to 7. You have six (6) points to buy Gifts. You can reason and her depth of formal education, as well as only buy Lesser Gifts for now, each costing her mental acuity. 1GP. You may choose 1GP to learn a Low Wisdom is the hero’s perceptiveness, ability to see Sorcery or a Strife. things that the mind cannot comprehend, and 8. Record your Saving Throws. This is 16- quickness of wits. Attribute, and when rolling a save, you must Charisma is the Karanduun’s strength of presence roll against the number this generates. For and force of will. A charismatic Karanduun need not Fortitude, this is 16-Str or Con; for Reflex this be attractive or beautiful, but their words will be is 16-Dex or Int; for Spirit this is Wis or Cha. heeded and obeyed. 9. Choose Weapons and note your Fray Die.
You Fray Die always begins at d8. When creating a character, choose to distribute the 10. Choose Armor. Unarmored, you have 10 AC, values: 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, and -1 across your attributes. modified by your Dexterity. With Armor, it is
28 When converting a character or NPC from a Exert, to apply trained speed, strength, or stamina game that uses Attribute Scores, follow this in some feat of physical exertion; to run, jump, lift, conversion table: swim, climb, throw, and so forth. You can use it as a combat skill when throwing things, though it doesn’t Attribute Conversion qualify as a combat skill for other ends. Heal, to cure the sick and mend the bloodied ally Normal Attribute New Attribute or foe. Healing from herbs of an albularyo, or the secret prayers of a katalonan, can effect great marvels 20 4 through this skill. 19 3 Know, to know things scholars and savants and 18 2 historians would know; the history of Zuhayras, the 14-17 1 societal role of the Datu, or what the different maligno 8-13 0 are. 4-7 -1 Lead, to convince others to also do whatever it is 3 -2 you’re trying to do. Appeal to their emotions, or let
them know your passion for your nation, to follow you Skills to death for the sake of freedom. Manage, to manage an organization, handle When creating your character, choose three to put at paperwork, analyze records, and keep an institution Rank-0. You may choose to spend 1 Gift Point during functioning on a daily basis. Roll it for bureaucratic Character Creation to raise it to Rank 1. Skills cannot expertise, organizational management, legal pass Rank 1 at Level 1. knowledge, dealing with the government and councils, and understanding how institutions really work. There are five Skill Levels: Notice, to spot anomalies or interesting facts about • Rank 0 - Basic competence in the skill. Buying your environment. Roll it for searching places, this costs 1 Skill Point. detecting ambushes, spotting things, and reading the • Rank 1 - An experienced professional in the emotional state of other people. skill. Buying this rank costs 2 Skill Points Perform, to dance, sing, orate, act, or otherwise • Rank 2 - Veteran expert. This is the maximum put on a convincing or emotionally moving performance. This must be a performance skill. rank. Buying this rank costs 3 Skill Points, and Pray, to know what a priest, nun, or shaman of a one can only buy this rank at Level 3. particular religion would know, as well as a measure Rank 3 - Master of the skill. Buying this rank • of your general piety and faith. costs 4 Skill Points, and you can only buy this Ride, to ride beasts such as horses or even the rank at Level 6. mythical bannog, and other land vehicles, such as • Rank 4 - Superlative expertise, one of the best kalesas. This also includes repair for land vehicles. in the entire world. This costs 5 Skill Points Sail, to maneuver the galleon ships, or the and you can only buy this rank at Level 9. intricacies of a bangka, or the greatness of balangays. Shoot, to strike at an opponent from afar with any The Skill List form of ranged weaponry: a bow, crossbow, a musket, The Skills of the Worthy are many, and the a thrown stone, a blowgun, or even a relict rifle. Worthy are the most Skilled of all people. Slash, to strike an opponent with any form of Brawl, to fight without the use of weapons, both melee weaponry: a sword, spear, axe, hammer, shield, in melee or range. Tooth and nail, elbow and knees. or relict Sandata. Contact, to find people who can be helpful to your Sneak, to perform things without being noticed, purposes and get them to cooperate with you. Whether usually illegal things: pick the pockets of the guwardya this be a slave trader, a diplomat from Giro’jji, or a sibil, sneak past the friars to go into their room full of black market merchant seeking to sell witchdust. You riches, or even to unlock the locked vaults of the may also use this to gether knowledge about foreign Basilica de Sanctuary. cultures and langauges. You can use it in place of Talk Survive, to handle animals, navigate difficult for persuading people you find via this skill. terrain, scrounge for resources, make basic tools, and Cast, to know the secret sciences and old paths of avoid wild beasts or gangs. knowledge, for things occult and esoteric, as well as Talk, to persuade, charm, or deceive others in using that knowledge to achieve magical effects. conversation, to believing what you want them to Craft, to build and fix things. The complexity of believe. such artifices depends on the crafters background. A Trade, to sell or buy things, figure out where to get Panday from the barangays will probably not know contraband and illegal goods, to fast-talk the how to manipulate and repair the workings of an Governor-General into buying your wooden Larauan Elemental Engine, for example.
29 for the price of a painting, or even to haggle with that panciteria cook to lower his prices. Weapons War, to lead armies and warbands, marshal troops, and affect cunning stratagems fit for a Datu or The examples of weapons given here are not commander. Use this with Charisma to lead your host exhaustible, of course. In addition, the damage dice are into a battle with certain death and win. modified by the attribute listed below, and are added Work, to plow fields, work wood, create weavings to the result before comparing to the damage chart. of abaca, construct buildings with others, and even to watch over a morgue. The purview of daily labors. If Weapon Modifier Damage Art is not Craft, then it is Work. Dice Unarmed Strength 1d2 Light (Daggers, Dirks) Strength or 1d4 Saving Throws Dexterity Medium Strength 1d6 You have three “Saves”, these are rolled whenever you (Swords, Spears) suffer an effect that you can resist in some way. Heavy (Greatswords, Strength 1d8 Fortitude Saves resist physical threats, and uses the Lances, etc.) higher of your Strength or Endurance to modify it. Magical Light Strength or 1d6 Reflex Saves are to test how quick of wit your (Balaraws, Lubid) Dexterity character is, avoiding threats that none other may see, Magical Medium Strength or 1d8 and uses the higher of your Dexterity or Intelligence to (Sandata, Relict Bolo, Dexterity modify it. And Spirit Saves are to resist supernatural Relict Tenegre) and mental effects, using the higher of your Wisdom Magical Heavy Strength 1d10 or Charisma to modify it. (Lantaka, Grand To perform a Saving Throw, one must meet or roll Sandata) over a difficulty using a d20 equal to: “16 - Attribute”. So for example, a hero with 2 in Dexterity, performing a Reflex save, must roll 14 or higher on a d20 roll to pass the Saving Throw. On a failure, something happens, according to the effect suffered.
Armors When creating a character, you may choose what armor he wears. Heavier armor imposes a penalty upon a particular saving throw. You always add your Dexterity bonus to Armor Class. Some Gifts might give your Karanduun a natural AC of 17. That can still be modified, but you may choose what Attribute modifies that AC by consulting with your GM. Armor Type Armor Class Penalty None (Robes, 10 None Clothing) Light (Buff Jackets, 13 None Chainmail) Medium (Lamellars, 15 -2 to Reflex Hard Leather, Saves Karabaw Hide) Heavy (Full Plate, 17 -4 to Reflex Cuirass) Saves Light Magical 16 0 (Tattoos, Enchantments) Heavy Magical (Power 18 -2 to Spirit Armor, Enchanted Bamboo Plate)
30 Against Mortals or Lesser Foes, Karanduun always go Rules first. Players decide who goes first among their party. If players cannot decide, they can choose to roll 1d8 + Skill Checks Dexterity or Wisdom to see who goes first. When trying to perform something that would be challenging for the Worthy--and that is not a lot--you If a party is deemed to be surprised, have the will be asked by the GM to roll one of your Skills surpriser roll a contested Dex/Sneak check against the against a certain Difficulty. target’s Wis/Notice check, with the defender winning To make a skill check, roll 2d6 + your Skill Rank ties. Those that fail the rolls are considered surprised. + an appropriate attribute modifier that applies to the They may only perform Instant actions while situation. If the added result of this all meets the target Surprised, and cannot move during the first round, number or higher, you succeed on the Skill Check. known as the Surprise Round. Usually the formatting of this is: “Roll [ATTRIBUTE]/[SKILL] vs. Difficulty” Between two Karanduun, their inherent Sinag Example counteracts and they are left in a state of rival combat. Jed [Playing Liveo]: Alright then, I guess I want to 1. Determine who goes first by rolling 1d8 + Dex get over the crevice to get to the device on the other or Wis Mod. side. 2. Double Damage after it is read. Straight GM: How do you do that? damage is NOT doubled. Jed: Can there be like, rocks and platforms that are jutting out? Rounds and Types of Actions GM: Sure. Outside of combat or where narrative timing is less Jed: Alright. Well I take a step back, say: “Watch important to the flow of fiction, these things do not this, but don’t score me.” I take a running start then apply. But when the bolos are unsheathed, arquebuses leap, and then bounce on the jutting rocks and are loaded, and kampilan clash with geom, the timing platforms to get to the other side. becomes more important. GM: Alright, cool. Since you don’t exactly have a Word for this, such as Sky or Alacrity, I’m going to A single Round is six seconds long. Each Round is have to ask you to make a skill check. Roll an Exert segmented into Turns, which all exist within those six- check modified by your Dexterity, or Dex/Exert. seconds, like a paragraph, exchange, or comic book Jed: Can I know the Difficulty? panel. GM: Not right now. Let me see how well you roll first. The Karanduun usually goes first, with the order of Jed: Alright. [rolls 2d6]. Well, that’s going to be an turns being dictated by the players. 8. I rolled a 6, plus my Exert-1 and Dexterity 1. GM: Liveo leaps and bounces on every platform, When your Turn comes up, be reminded that there are and hits the ground on the other side, rolling as he four types of action: Main, Move, On Turn, and hadn’t anticipated the momentum. Instant. Jed: I turn around and say: “Definitely do NOT score that.” Main Actions are major actions that absorb most of the six-second round. You only have one of these per GM Tip: If the Karanduun has a Word connected round. This applies to attacking, but also usually to that skill, such as maybe Artifice for Craft, then trying to apply magical healing upon an ally, assume that they only have to roll for the highest of defending something, manipulating some strange difficulties. Do NOT ask for Skill Checks for every little Aghaman device and whatnot. If wanted, the hero may thing. The Karanduun are heroes, they will only be replace their Main Action for the round for a second challenged by challenging things. Move Action. Player Tip: NEVER say something like: “Can I roll Know to see if I know this information?” or “Can I roll Move Actions is moving, allowing one to move up to Notice to see what’s inside the room?” Instead, ask the 30’, baseline. You get one of these per round. Climbing GM DIRECTLY, or guide your character accordingly or moving through hazardous terrain or swimming according to the fiction. You could instead say: “Do I amongst others halves the character’s move. A hero know this information?” or “What’s inside the room?” may split their move action, such as moving 15’, or “My character looks about the room, picking up attacking, and then moving 15’ again. Moving out of knick-knacks with reckless abandon.” Melee Range from an opponent without disengaging provokes an Opportunity Attack, allowing the Combat opponent to make a melee attack against you. You muse use your Main Action to Disengage.
31 Hold An Action is a Move Action, allows you to delay system. The following rule should adequately fill this all your actions and activate them as an Instant action. role in the context of Karanduun. New rule: A character that successfully makes an On Turn Actions are simple but fast acts, such as unarmed attack on their opponent can choose to not readying an item, dropping something, or downing a deal damage but instead grapple them. This prevents herbal remedy blessed by diwata of fertility. You may either the attacker or their opponent from moving perform as many of these in one round as you’d like. away or attacking other targets, and increases their AC by 2. These effects end when either (a) the attacker lets Instant Actions are special: you may use this action go, (b) the opponent hits their attacker, or (c) the even if its not your turn. This is usually some magical opponent equals or exceeds at an opposed Strength capability, but some combat actions are also instant, check against their attacker (this free action can only be such as Total Defense which foregoes a Main Action attempted once per turn by the opponent). (if it hasn’t been used yet. If it has, you cannot use Total Defense) and adds +2 to their AC until their next turn. Crashed Once you get are brought down to 0 HP, you are Hitting and Damaging Crashed. Unlike Skill Checks, rolling to see if your attack hits an While Crashed you: opponent in combat is done with Hit Rolls. A usual hit • You can only move half your Move. roll consists of rolling a 1d20 (not 2d6!) + Attribute • You cannot use Action or On Turn Gifts, nor (usually Strength or Dexterity) + Skill Rank (usually Miracles. Brawl, Shoot, or Slash) vs. the target’s Armor Class. If • When using Gifts while Crashed, you must it is equal or higher, you hit! Commit Effort for the Day (if the Gift already
commits to a day, you must spend 2 points.) Similar to Skill Checks, if your skill is at Rank-0, you have a -2 penalty to your Hit Roll. Every turn you are Crashed, roll a Hardness or
Spirit Saving throw. Every turn after the first that you Once you hit, you roll your damage. Roll your damage are Crashed you gain an accumulative -1 to this Saving die and compare the result (which includes adding Throw. Every time you are damaged, you gain -1 your modifiers etc.) to the damage chart. A roll of 1 is accumulative to the Save as well. 0 damage, a roll of 2-5 is 1 Damage, a roll of 6-9 is 2
Damage, and a roll of 10+ is 4 damage. If you fail the Saving Throw, you die, or you may
choose to instantly go into a Divine Fury. If you do There will be instances when a Damage is read have ready used your Divine Fury for this level, you “Straight”. If this is the case, apply the damage straight die. from the dice result (ie. A damage roll of 7 would deal
7HP damage instead of 2) without consulting the damage table. Labors RESULT ROLLED DAMAGE DONE To increase in power, the would be Heroes must 1 0 complete epic deeds to prove their Worth. The Labors 2-5 1 of the Karanduun are dependent upon their 6-9 2 Tungkulin. Accomplishing Labors gives the 10+ 4 Karanduun 1 XP or 1 DP, chosen by the player, and it is one of the most effective ways of earning XP. In addition, there are three tiers of Karanduun, and to Grappling advance to the levels 3, 6, and 9, one must have The ability to restrain opponents is a mainstay of completed at least one Labor for their respective tier. fiction, a constant need of characters, and perilously hard to design as a smooth and balanced RPG Here is a list of example Labors:
32 ROLL 1D6 1D6 NASIRAKNA NABAHADNA ODTO APUNA TUNGANA SAKDOL IGSIRINTO
1-2: TIER 1 1-2 Persuade an Carry a heavy Save a child. Convince Craft a Instil doubt Sneak into a important object. someone to magical within the fortress person invest in item. heart of a unnoticed. you. faithful.
3-4 Command a Best a worthy Produce an Establish Dispel Destroy one Protect a group of foe in single amazing contact with powerful piece of person that people combat. form of art. a diwata, sorcery. authoritarian cannot anito, or structure. protect umalagad. themselves. 5-6 Endure a Defeat a group Teach a Commune Learn a Cause chaos Find a way extreme heat of bandits. class. with the piece of within a into a place or cold diwata ancient group of that you are within a knowledge. people. not balete tree. supposed to be in. 3-4: TIER 2 1-2 Impassion an Parry Sing a song Travel to the Craft a Instill Sneak into a assembly to something for three Espiritu. powerful rebellion well- your cause or impossible to days dambana into the guarded beliefs. parry. straight. structure. hearts of a palace nation. without being caught. 3-4 Command an Defeat a Create a Travel from Forge one of Kill a tyrant. Protect an army. worthy foe in a form of art one place to the five entire single strike. that moves another magic kingdom by diwata. without rest. materials. yourself.
5-6 Endure a blast Cut down an Teach a Create trade Learn Destroy an Assassinate from a entire army. single child connections important authoritarian a powerful volcano or the a skill so between but government. political heart of ice. well that he two hostile forbidden figure. is kingdoms. sorceries. considered a prodigy. 5-6: TIER 3 1-2 Persuade a Cut down an Create a Speak with Craft a Unravel one Sneak into fallen diwata. entire army of form of Art an Apo and Relict that part of Maka. engkanto. that changes make them will last for reality into Maka. give you eternity. chaos. power. 3-4 Command an Defeat an Apo Teach an Influence Craft an Instil Sneak into army of in single Apo the denizens entire rebellion in Sulad. engkanto. combat. something of the kingdom. an entire about Espiritu. continent. humanity. 5-6 Endure the Create a True Instill Maneuver Perform a Cause chaos Find a way uncreating Strife. Passion into your way spell that within the to travel to wrath of a the Apo. into rewrites Courts of the Formless powerful Apo becoming fundamental Maka. Mist or Bathala. the shadow parts of without the of the reality. Biraddali throne. noticing you.
33 Advancement developing them. You cannot spend your points mid- scene. Karanduun are known to advance, and they will Every skill must be purchased in order. If you always be known to advance, until they can reach their want to buy Rank-2 in a skill, you must buy Rank-1 legendary potential. first, and to buy Rank-1, you must buy Rank-0 first.
To level up, a Karanduun must have both accrued New Skill Skill Point Minimum Character enough Experience Points (XP) and spent enough Rank Cost Level Dominion. Dominion is similar to the Dominion rules in Godbound (p. 126, “Changing the World”) and most of our Advancement increases are part of this. 0 1 1
Character Total XP Dominion 1 2 1 Level Required Spent 1 0 0 2 3 3 2 3 2 3 6 4 3 4 6 4 12 10 5 24 22 4 5 9 6 48 38 7 72 57 8 96 76 9 130 95 Buying Attributes 10 170 124 In addition to Skills, you may also choose to improve 11+ +24 for each +30 for each your Attributes. This is known as an Attribute Boost. level more level more Boosts always add just +1. You may add +1 to your Attribute modifier by Most games only last until Level 8 – 10. However, spending 3 Skill Points. The second one after that (all if your game calls for higher level games, do not be of them are +1s, but are cumulative) costs 5 SP. The afraid to invent new Gifts and Miracles for the game. third 8 and you must be Level 3+, the fourth 11 and you must be Level 6+, and the last 13 SP and you must Benefits of Gaining a Level be Level 9+. No more than five attribute boosts can be bought by a PC. In addition, PCs can never raise their Attribute Once they achieve the amount of Total XP needed beyond 4. If the next Attribute Boost would raise your and spent the required amount of Dominion, their Attribute from 3 to 4, double the Skill Point Cost. Sinag bolsters and burns within them, propelling them to face greater challenges with renewed vigor. Attribute Skill Point Minimum • Add Hit Points: You gain 3HP + your Boost Cost Character Constitution to your Maximum HP. Level • Better Saving Throws: All your Saving First 3 1 Throws go down by 1. Second 5 1 • Raised Attack Bonus: Add +1 to your Attack Third 8 3 Bonus. E.g. At Level 2, this means your Attack Fourth 11 6 Bonus is at +2. Fifth 14 9 • Maximum Effort and Influence increased: Add +1 to your Overt Effort, and +1 to your Influence. You only add +1 to your Subtle Effort at Level 3, 6, and 9. • Gain Gift Points and Skill Points: You gain 2 Gift Points that you can either use or bank. You also gain 3 Skill Points that you can use to raise Skills or buy skills. Buying Skills Skills bought after leveling up is assumed to have been trained over the course of a Karanduun’s adventures. If you choose to bank or save up your Skill Points, you’ll need a teacher or some other explanation for
34 Words Insects • The Gift Flesh of Many is banned and is moved to the Shapeshifting Word. Here is the list of mechanical changes for the Words in • One Thousand Wing - Remove this: “The Godbound to make them fit Karanduun: Godbound transforms into a normal insect of their choice, gaining no special powers but acquiring any flight or aquatic movement the Word Changes insect may have for as long as the Effort remains Committed. General Faerie Queen • A Karanduun cannot buy more than two Words after character creation. • General: Replace all mention of fae with diwata. • All instances of Words granting 3 AC are Might replaced with 17 AC. o AC set to 17 by a Gift can use any • The Intrinsic Benefit is replaced by this: Attribute (other than Dex) to modify “Raise your Strength to 2. If it is already at 2, that AC (given that it can be raise it to 4.” justified, ie. Wisdom for Time since you perceive Time, etc.). o AC can never exceed 20 even with modifiers.
• All Instances of Intrinsic Benefits raising your Attributes to 16 (and 16 to 18) is replaced with “change that Attribute to 1 if it is at 0. If it’s already at 1, change it to 2.” Moon or Buwan • Karanduun cannot bind the Words of Shapeshifting, Fate, Engineering, Network, Sanlibutan burns and weeps at the sight of the Dragon, Lich King, and Peak Human. They Moon, as it is the heavenly object that has suffered the cannot Bind Apotheosis until Level 8. most harm. Originally the fickle and mercurial moon- god Bulan, he was struck down and split into seven Beast Moons, and four of those moons were eaten by the • Many-Skinned Mantle - Remove this: Serpent Goddess Bakunawa. The three other moons “Adopt the shape of any beast or hybrid, left, and Bu'an, youngest of the Moon Gods, would've natural or magical.” died by Bakunawa's moon had it not been for his sister, Halea, who wove a silver mask out of stars to combat Sea Bakunawa. In the end, Halea won. Bu'an now lives in the Mountain of Madja-as with his husband, Sui-dapa, • Lord of the Waters -- Remove this: “...you can the God of Death. Halea turns in the sky, her Mask transform into any non-magical sea creature facing to and away creation. Always ready to combat larger than a shrimp and smaller than a the darkness that comes from all sides. kraken.” The Moon Word is focused on the themes of the Bird Lakungdulan Moon. One of perseverance, adaptability, rebellion, and serenity. • Feathered Mantle -- Remove this: “The Karanduun with the Moon Word cannot be Godbound takes an avian shape no smaller impaired by darkness or mist, and they can shed than a hummingbird and no larger than the serene light up to 200 feet of them. In addition, they largest mundane bird in the realm. This have invincible defenses against mind or emotion- shapeshifting does not alter the Godbound's affecting or reading powers. special abilities, and it does not gain any non- natural abilities possessed by the new bird Lesser Gifts form. The change lasts for as long as is Mooncopper Body - On Turn desired, and can be reverted as an On Turn Like the amorphous shifting of the copper moon, action. you change your phase to avoid all harm. Your AC is considered to be at 17. This does not benefit from
35 Armor or Shields. You may also heal 1d6 damage from you per Karanduun's level. Flight of the Quicksilver - Constant Your movement action can take you to any point within movement range, and even let you go past obstructions and physical obstacles, provided that you will appear beside an ally or an enemy. Serene Lunar Rebellion - Action Commit Effort for the scene. You may cure or relieve someone from any mental illnesses or any physical and mental addictions. Witching Hour Stride - On Turn Commit Effort for the scene. As long as it is night, you may teleport to any place near you within a mile. Moon-Witch Defiance- Constant You do not have to land on the ground, and you may hover up to 30' from the ground. You cannot fly faster nor farther than your movement range. By Committing Effort for the scene, you may extend this power to all your allies, or a single creature you can see.
Greater Gifts Fate-Defying Revolution - Action Commit Effort for the day. Any action done to harm you or your allies is instantly revoked and things revert back to a point before that action took place. However, if the one that performed the action used Effort, he does not regain that Effort.
Seven-Moons Insurgence - Instant The moon cannot bear the night to seize life. Commit Effort for the Day. If you or an ally is struck and brought down to 0 HP, they may instantly activate Divine Fury and their health is brought back up to maximum. At the end of the scene, they die, unless they received medical attention or the powers of the Health Word.
Lunar Sword Shattering Heaven - (Smite) Action Commit Effort for the scene. If it is night, or if the Moon is somehow in the sky (as with an eclipse), your next attack deals Straight Damage. This damage can be maximized by other gifts, but it cannot be used in conjunction by any Gift that enhances the attack roll (such as Unerring Blade, etc.). If it misses, you still roll it as normal damage.
36 Tala or Star have a sympathetic connection to it, such as lock of Suga, the silent sagess, unraveled the secrets of the hair, or their blood. world, learning the occultations of the Bathala, and the unknown truths of the Producer, the Molder, and the Harness the Earth Constant Fanner. She scoured the secrets of madness until she You’ve been initiated into the Circle of the came face-to-face to Formless Mist. However, when Earth/Gate, the first step for sorcery. Choose four her brothers--her stupid brothers--leapt to strike invocations of the Earth to master. Heaven, she was smitten in her father’s anger. Now the knowledge only she knew, which she accrued for a Greater Gifts million years, is scattered into a million little lights in Harness the Sky Constant the night sky. From then on, the stars have watched, You’ve been initiated into the Circle of and the secrets hidden within them burn bright against the Sky/Way. You must be able to Harness the Earth darkness. to master this. You master three invocations of the Sky. Those that Manifest the Facet of Star burn with curiosity. More potent Sorcery is the Truth, Knowledge Harness the Weave Constant is Power. Secrets, Truth, Subtlety, and Magic are the You’ve been initiated into the Circle of the purviews of the Star Facet. Weave/Throne. You must be able to Harness the Karanduun with the Star Facet have perfect Weave to master this. You master two invocations of memory. In addition, they are invulnerable to mind the Weave. control and mind reading, their secrets unable to be found. The Stars Know Instant Commit Effort for the scene. Automatically dispel Lesser Gifts or resist any single magical effect targeted at you or an Force Open the Third Eye (Smite) Action ally. The creature that used that power cannot use that Commit Effort for the scene. You may deal 1d8 same power again until the Effort is released. psychic damage per level against any visible target. Optionally, instead of this effect, you may choose to The damage always deals at least 1 point of damage. know all the secrets that the attacker has.
Everpresent Stella Instant Commit Effort for the scene. Choose one target and you may ask the GM for a single secret from that target. You cannot pull out more than one secret per target.
Blessed Starflies Action Commit Effort for the scene. You summon a flying Small Mob of 1HD per three levels Starflies that can shoot bolts of pure diwa at enemies. They use your attack bonuses.
Palace of the Star Mind Action Commit Effort for the day. You may choose one knowledge or technical skill. You are treated as if you have a Fact in that technical skill for the purposes of rolling checks.
Astralborne Kaluluwa On Turn Commit Effort. As long as this Effort is committed, you leave your body behind and become a floating spirit made of Starstuff. You have an AC of 17, this cannot be augmented by armor or shields. You may release this Effort as an Instant Action. If you do this in response to an attack, you have an Invincible Defense against a single magical attack (including magical weapons).
Stellar Sympathy On Turn Commit Effort for the day. Your Low Magic spells may affect anything within the world as long as you
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