The Role-Bound Ferryman

There's only one way onto the island. And only the ferryman knows the way. But do not bother the ferryman lightly, for he sees what's in your heart and it may not be to the island that he takes ye.

There are no records of the ferryman's arrival, no records of his name, and nobody knows why he never leaves his ferry. He just silently stands. And silently waits. And silently does his job. The Role-bound Ferryman and grogs like him are characters who

are not designed to grow over time. Instead, they are designed as mystic forces present in the covenant since before anyone can remember.

The definition of a role-bound grog is one who can serve no purpose other than the role he currently occupies. A role-bound watchman cannot leave his post to accompany a magus on a long journey. Nor can he take messages far from the covenant at the behest of his captain or the steward.

For this reason, grogs like this tend to play fleeting roles in stories, but they are open to all and may be played during stories closer to the covenant or involving their particular role.

These strange warped creatures, gone beyond human and now made something "other," can be found performing a number of roles, not just the role of ferryman.

While the characters suggested here do not have Magic Might, chapter 4 of Realms of Power: Magic provides full rules on designing and creating Magic Human characters. Characters bound to a device or to their role can be considered some kind of halfway point between mortal or human and faerie or magically transformed.

Such characters are always too limited to be played as companions and so take the grog role within the saga.

There are a number of special considerations in creating these characters.

Role-bound characters can be of any age and there is story potential both in the younger and older age ranges. Younger characters may experience the event that binds them to their role during play, gaining the Flaw that defines them (see later) as a story event, while older characters may have been at the covenant for a long time with seemingly nobody now questioning their origin or purpose.

The Role-bound Ferryman discussed in this section has a poor Communication, probably through years of near solitude, but high Stamina from his long service out on the marsh in all weather. Others unfortunate enough to be bound to their role may have higher Dexterity, as befits a dedicated craftsman.

The ferryman is bound to his role, unable to change beyond its confines. But though he is defined by his role, he has other gifts. His unearthly demeanor is represented by the Piercing Gaze Virtue, but his true gifts are the Premonitions of harm that threaten the covenant, and his Second Sight with which he scans the horizon looking for ghostly visitations. His chief Flaw is Bound to Ferryman Role and because few know of or understand this supernatural curse, he is also Judged Unfairly. Perhaps through the same effect, he has lost much of his ability to communicate, represented by the Poor Communication Flaw.

This gives the ferryman the following Virtues and Flaws: Covenfolk; Piercing Gaze, Premonitions, Second Sight; Bound to (Ferryman) Role*, Judged Unfairly, Poor Communication

* See Chapter 6: New Virtues and Flaws

The usual rules regarding limits on starting Ability scores and childhood experience apply to these characters, just as for other grogs. In addition, role-bound grogs must have a Profession or Craft Ability that defines them. Martial or other abilities may be substituted with the troupe's agreement.

The ferryman most likely has had an athletic childhood spent out on the marshes, so this package is used as the base. Abilities are then bought to suit the character. Once play starts, the Role-bound Ferryman uses the following Training Packages with alterations based on his situation and Abilities:

THREE YEARS (COVENFOLK): +5 (Area) Lore, +20 Covenant Lore, +15 Craft: Boatbuilder, +5 Order of Hermes Lore

THREE YEARS (LOCAL): +15 (Area) Lore, +15 Folk Ken, +15 (Organization) Lore

THREE YEARS (MAGICIAN): +15 Magic Lore, +15 Premonitions, +15 Second Sight

THREE YEARS (SAILOR): +5 (Area) Lore, +20 Profession: Ferryman, +5 Survival, +15 Swim

THREE YEARS (SCOUT): +15 (Area) Lore, +15 Awareness, +15 Stealth

ABILITIES AT AGE 35: Area Lore: The Marsh 5 (waterways), Athletics 3 (balance), Awareness 3 (searching), Brawl 3 (Dodge), Craft: Boatbuilder 3 (repairs), English 5 (regional dialect), Folk Ken 3 (peasants), Magic Lore 3 (creatures), Order of Hermes Lore 1 (personalities), Organization Lore: Covenant 3 (personalities), Organization Lore: Smugglers 3 (personalities), Premonitions 3 (threats to the covenant), Profession: Ferryman 4 (marsh ferries), Second Sight 3 (illusory disguises), Stealth 3 (sailing

quietly), Survival 2 (marshland), Swim 3 (marshy water)

ABILITIES AT AGE 50: Area Lore: The Marsh 6 (waterways), Athletics 3 (balance), Awareness 4 (searching), Brawl 3 (Dodge), Craft: Boatbuilder 4 (repairs), English 5 (regional dialect), Folk Ken 4 (peasants), Magic Lore 4 (creatures), Order of Hermes Lore 2 (personalities), Organization Lore: Covenant 4 (personalities), Organization Lore: Smugglers 3 (personalities), Premonitions 4 (threats to the covenant), Profession: Ferryman 5 (local waterways), Second Sight 4 (illusory disguises), Stealth 3 (sailing quietly), Survival 2 (marshland), Swim 4 (marshy water)

ABILITIES AT AGE 65: Area Lore: The Marsh 7 (waterways), Athletics 3 (balance), Awareness 4 (searching), Brawl 3 (Dodge), Craft: Boatbuilder 4 (repairs), English 5 (regional dialect), Folk Ken 5 (peasants), Magic Lore 4 (creatures), Order of Hermes Lore 2 (personalities), Organization Lore: Covenant 5 (personalities), Organization Lore: Smugglers 4 (personalities), Premonitions 5 (threats to the covenant), Profession: Ferryman 6 (local waterways), Second Sight 5 (illusory disguises), Stealth 4 (sailing quietly), Survival 3 (marshland), Swim 4 (marshy water)

Excess experience points that do not reach a higher Ability score have been redistributed in the sample Abilities earlier to ensure that all have been spent with no remainders. In addition, the ferryman has acquired an enriched Item of Virtue by his 65th year, granted by virtue of the Magician training package.

Unless affected by other effects, characters bound to their role possess and express Personality Traits just as other grogs, but years of being restricted to one role, often unable to live a normal natural life, may take its toll on their personality. They may be resentful or resigned, bitter or accepting, searching for release or loyal to their covenant.

The Role-bound Ferryman discussed earlier has the following Personality Traits: Loyal to the Covenant +3, Taciturn +2, Reliable +1

In many ways, the Role-Bound grog is a story seed.

A man has gone missing. He was last seen trying to reach the covenant, asking the ferryman for passage, but he never arrived. The covenant has always taken the ferryman for granted, never asking who he is or why he does what he does. But what has the ferryman done with the man and why?

The covenant awakes one morning to find something unheard of in living memory: the ferryman is not at his post. Not only that, but his boat is gone too. A magus of House Verditius, who visited the covenant some seasons before, has stolen the ferryman away. He recognized that the ferryman is bound to his role, and bound to his boat. The magus has taken him in order to experiment upon him, to find the secret of binding devices to the living, or binding a living mind into a device. Can the covenant find their man before the Verditius experiments tear him from his boat?

WHAT SORROWS HAVE BOUND THIS MAN?

Nobody has ever asked what binds the ferryman to his ferry, not really. Magi have wondered what magical force sustains him in all weathers, unchanging and unflinching. But nobody has ever wondered at the tragedy that turned him into the creature he is. Until now. An old text, written by a monk describing his journey through the region, has been found in a nearby church that tells of a man whose wife became lost and disappeared out on the marsh. The text describes how he waits for her to return. The text was written centuries ago, but the man it describes seems to be the ferryman. Do the magi search the text for clues? Do they find the ferryman's wife and set him free from his curse?