After some discussion on this board, I've decided to give the Unroyal an overhaul. I don't know whether they were critically flawed, but they were flawed enough to fix, and that's the important part.
The core of Unroyal civilization is:
- Their origin story as the former slaves of an abusive royal magical bloodline.
- Related to that: the "Let none rule you" CV.
- Their central problem: being single-issue voters, that issue being "no tyrants."
- Related to that: their difficulty recognizing other issues as valid.
I did some brainstorming today, treating the rest of their culture as either things that needed to go, or things that were present but not central and thus could be thrown out. The latter category included their status as a civilization (rather than a society), their status as nomads, their physical appearance, their activist approach, and other items.
Below is the revised version of the Unroyal civilization, which keeps my favorite parts about them while hopefully removing some problematic elements and giving them a more unique niche. The first three paragraphs are nearly the same as before; interesting changes start in paragraph 4. No real changes to Traditions or Benefit.
The Unroyal
History
Long ago, in a distant part of the Kaleidoscope, a powerful family had magical powers that they used to enslave a hundred thousand people. They walked from world to world through wild magic zones and nightmarish Dream Realms, so that their captives found the outside world horrible and dangerous. They stole their slaves' freedom, their dignity, and sometimes even their very thoughts, all so that they could live in luxury. They called themselves the Royals.
Then, one glorious day, their reign ended. Thousands of people snapped out of mind control. Tens of thousands more drank the wild magic like cold pure water and rained angry fire on their oppressors. Some of the Royals no doubt escaped, but their control had been broken, and the so-called "common folk" were free. Free, and surging with unexpected and uncomprehended power.
They banded together and named themselves The Unroyal in defiance of their former rulers. Slowly they learned the magic of their oppressors in addition to their own, turning it to righteousness and introspection rather than excess and domination. After decades of seeking through the Dream Realms, they returned home to their own world, the Great Basin of humanity. There they found a new homeland, where they worked to end the Interregnum. They worked to teach love and respect, to sue for freedom when they could and fight for it when they could not, so that no one would ever suffer what they had.
Unlike the Hearth-Kin, the Unroyal have been back in the Basin for over three hundred years already. They've had time to sculpt a homeland - but they haven't done it in the Basin. Instead, they've done it in the Dream Realms. They find worlds that share their goals and partner with them. They bring oppressed people out of the most dangerous parts of the Kaleidoscope, and into the safety of dream worlds like Kharadesh of the Unbroken Mind, Murathame: Orphan's Respite, or U'tu the Peasant's Glorious Sunrise. In less persecuted lands, they help to build up infrastructure, teach sorcery, and enable self-reliance.
Because their civilization's heart is located beyond the physical world, much of the Unroyal's technology is focused on things they can bring with them into the Basin. The most common devices are relics and enchanted objects that funnel wild magic or represent their beliefs. Most of their magical infrastructure is emotionally oriented, using elemental resonances or glorious transubstantiation to cross the gap between the physical and the ephemeral.
The Unroyal are a representative democracy.
Spotlight: The Living Pantheon
During their long subjugation, the public personas of individual Unroyals were designated by the Royals. This included not only dress, but behavior: outgoing or timid, active or retiring, rough or tender, in ways that matched the Royals' own societal roles. The Royals could be very particular about this, punishing their slaves for acting out of character, and assigning roles that they themselves found demeaning.
After they obtained their freedom, most Unroyals felt uncomfortable in these roles. To free their minds, they put forth their own heroes, and sought out archetypes from other cultures, creating a vast array of new ways to think and be. They call this the Living Pantheon. It is "living" not in the sense that its members can change over time (though they do), but because the Unroyals themselves live those lives and inhabit those roles.
Many Unroyal follow the path of one of the Living Pantheon. They take on that role the way one might taste a fine chocolate or try on a silk shirt, savoring it, deciding whether it fits them. They weigh the archetype against their inner selves, and if the fit is not quite right, they move on to a new role. Their bodies, postures, and self-expressions often change to fit. Outsiders often assume they're dealing with the same person they met last year, when really someone else is inhabiting the role they once held. (Unroyals are quick to clear up such mistakes, lest they cause bigger problems.) Someone who initially presents as hyper-masculine might be awkwardly effeminate a year later, or gracefully feminine, or masculine in a more compassionate way.
Early on, most Unroyals quickly settled into positions and roles where they were comfortable. A hundred years later, as the truth of immortality began to set in, the Unroyals returned role-changing as a way to keep their minds flexible. Most Unroyals follow such archetypes for a few months or years at a time before trying something new.
In some ways, these changes (and their own overly busy lives) can blind the Unroyals to the plight of others. When someone complains that they aren't able to do what they want because of their role in society, an Unroyal citizen is likely to suggest that people change who they are rather than to deal with a societal issue. If it's not tyranny, it's not so big that you can't change yourself to handle it. It takes an Unroyal some extra time to remember that other people value a long-term static self, and would rather improve its lot than take on a more fluid identity.
Spotlight: Courage and Service
Being Unroyal requires a certain amount of grit. Their children learn it at a young age - along with the difference between tenacity and just plain stubbornness. They also learn the importance of service. There's no way that the Unroyal are going to rid the Basin of tyranny without everyone working together. While the gigantic Nova Commonwealth scatters its seeds far and wide, and mighty Diadem wastes the majority of its citizens' talents, comparatively small Unroyal makes sure that everyone's pulling in the same direction.
Children among the Unroyal are taught teamwork as a means to an end. They don't have to love it, but it's how you get things done. One common metaphor is that when you want to shine bright, teamwork is the only oil for that lamp. Not all Unroyals enjoy cooperation, but all of them value it.
Most teams amongst the Unroyal don't have a single leader. With people taking on new personae on a regular basis, you can't rely solely on strong or compatible personalities to hold things together. Instead, they have experts for various situations. Being an expert is considered its own kind of service: when people need what you know, you can't stubbornly hang on to a personality that's counterproductive. You need to step up now, and if you need to bow out gracefully, you wait for the danger to be over.
Hallmarks
- Symbols of their principles
- Weather foretells the future
- Wind and thunder presage danger
- Well-traveled allies from distant lands
- Strange occurrences that flout probability
- Jewelry and tattoos that represent their beliefs
- Bizarre plants with a hundred fascinating purposes
- Councils with the great spirits of the dream worlds
- Visitors and refugees from a hundred different realms
- Bottles full of chaotic mana for use when things are dire
- Events conspire to make random occurrences into stories
- Mirrors that store the viewer's magical signature and intentions
- Paths that lead wanderers to the destination their heart desires - or deserves
Core Values
Just because the Gift frees all living beings from mind control doesn't mean no one can subjugate you. There are a thousand ways to control, all of them bad. Let None Rule You. You can work with someone you don't like, you can go with a vote you don't agree with, you can even take orders if you think someone knows better than you, but you do not bow your head - nor ask anyone to bow their head to you. The age of kings should be over, and the Unroyal will be the first people to tell you that the Interregnum is far from done.
Shine Brightly. Go into the dark places and bring the light. Whatever you can do best, do it, and do it to bring joy and life and freedom to the world. Don't let anyone stop you.
Note that many Unroyals have the Archetypal Expertise (page xx), linked to their current choice in the Living Pantheon. This will grant them an appropriate Core Value when its Professions are in use.
Traditions
The Key of Freedom: C5 I3 M3 S5 T3 W5
The Key of Courage: C3 I5 M5 S3 T5 W3
The first magic of the Unroyal was The Key of Freedom, which walks the path of Wild Magic to the fount of Earthpower. It is a personal and an interpersonal art, whether that means communication or battle or self-understanding. Importantly, it is never impersonal. The practitioner is never merely a conduit for power. Instead, the power is connected to who they are, have been, and will be. Bearers of the Key of Freedom have been known to:
- Flow with the roiling mana of battle to pull meteors from the sky
- Carefully piece together a Rapport by resonating with another's mana
- Listen to the wind and the weather to understand what is coming for them tomorrow
- Adapt to local spaces: become quiet in a quiet place, or hard and gnarled in a grove of ancient trees
- Use the mana of pain and suffering to call to the energy of healing, letting people transform themselves in moments of hardship to what they wish they had been
The art that the Unroyals took from their captors was The Key of Courage, which walks the path of Belief to the fount of Glory. It requires a Core Value pertaining to hierarchy, control, and command. The Unroyal's own Let None Rule You CV is most common, but any interpretation of those concepts will do. Bearers of the Key of Courage use it to:
- Use their own unquenchable nature to prevent the haughty from noticing them
- Trap a curse in a metaphorical labyrinth made of the strength of one's convictions
- Understand the Travel lattice's relationship to power, and thereby open it
- Recite catechisms to raise a wall of thunder between the worthy and the unworthy
- Use a captive's desire for freedom to open gateways to the Dream Realms
The Key of Courage has been substantially reinvented and altered since its early days. A tool of oppression and control has been converted into a means to achieve freedom and self-sufficiency. There were arguments early on as to whether the Key of Courage was appropriate to learn at all, or whether it would lead to repeating the mistakes of the past. Those arguments are mostly gone now, but there are still some who refuse to learn it because of its history, calling it the Key of Folly.
Benefit
Once per session, when they achieve an Advantage through conflict or Theme use that frees or inspires others, Unroyals may raise the level of that advantage by one (for instance, from Minor to Moderate). In addition, when enchanting others with the Gift they move one step faster on the time ladder.
