Witchwyrd

ECOLOGY

Environment any
Organization solitary, entourage (1 plus 2–5 humanoid guards), or enclave (2–5 plus 11–20 humanoid guards)

Witchwyrds are avid wanderers and inveterate merchants, plying the trade routes between both planets and the planes.

Witchwyrds have four arms and hairless gray-blue skin.

Their eyes glow visibly, increasing in brightness as they absorb force energy. Witchwyrds stand an average of 7 feet tall and weigh approximately 300 pounds. They favor loose, flowing robes and distinctive conical hats, and they frequently cover their faces with masks or ornate helmets. Witchwyrds new to a market or eager to avoid identification during an important business deal sometimes fold one pair of their flexible arms behind their backs and cover their faces.

Although witchwyrds seem to gain some manner of sustenance from the magical force energy they absorb, they still breathe, drink, eat, and sleep like normal creatures, and they have a fondness for extremely spicy foods. The average lifespan of witchwyrds is unknown, though they are believed to live for many centuries, if not millennia.

Witchwyrds are acknowledged as the progenitors of the kasathas and the shobhads of Akiton. Why the witchwyrds seeded Kasath and Akiton with intelligent life modeled after themselves remains a mystery, as does the number of other as yet-undiscovered planets similarly affected. It is an undisputed fact, however, that witchwyrds were the impetus behind the construction of the kasathas’ worldship and their exodus from their home planet.

Witchwyrds can be found on nearly any world or plane with civilized trade, preferring dry, warm regions, but virtually nothing is known of their mysterious home world. The details of witchwyrd government and society are likewise unknown, other than a widespread belief that a mercantile oligarchy of witchwyrd elders directs their race’s interplanetary and interplanar trade.

Most witchwyrds operate as solitary traders, primarily focusing on one area of trade (such as weapons or magic items), though most deal in other goods as well. Virtually all witchwyrds love haggling, to the point that the process of bargaining sometimes seems more important to a witchwyrd than the eventual deal that is struck.

Witchwyrds often travel with a crew of loyal humanoid mercenaries hired from worlds they’ve visited in the past.

These hirelings never speak of their remuneration, purportedly forbidden from doing so by punitive clauses in their contracts.

Witchwyrd Caravel

The Witchwyrd manufactures its own line of starships using unique hybrid technology, including proprietary planar aperture drives that enable the witchwyrds to travel between planes as well as into hyperspace. Under no circumstances are these engines sold to non-witchwyrds. One of the most commonly encountered style of witchwyrd starships is the Dark Caravel, named after an ancient oceangoing vessel.

Tetrad Caravel Tier 6

Medium transport

Speed 12; Maneuverability average (turn 2); Drift 2 AC 18; TL 19 HP 85; DT —; CT 17 Shields medium 100 (forward 25, port 25, starboard 25, aft 25) Attack (Forward) heavy laser array (6d4), tactical nuclear missile launcher (5d8) Attack (Aft) laser net (2d6) Attack (Turret) light particle beam (3d6), light particle beam (3d6) Power Core Pulse Blue (200 PCU); Drift Engine proprietary planar aperture drive; Systems basic long-range sensors, biometric locks, crew quarters (luxurious), mk 2 armor, mk 3 defenses, mk 1 tetranode computer; Expansion Bays cargo holds (2), guest quarters (luxurious), life boats, smuggler compartment Modifiers +1 to any four checks per round, +2 Computers, –1 Piloting; Complement 6

CREW

Witchwyrd Captain Bluff +18 (6 ranks), Diplomacy +18 (6 ranks) Engineer Engineering +13 (6 ranks) Gunners (2) gunnery +10 Pilot Piloting +16 (6 ranks) Science Officer Computers +13 (6 ranks)