The Malumtene

Mothers in Usmon frighten their children with your name. Your ancestors were runekar who wanted power more than they wanted to stay themselves, and the rituals they practiced rewrote their blood. You inherited the crimson eyes, the markings and the reputation, whether you asked for them or not. You also inherited what they learned: that the aether web can be torn as easily as it can be tied.

Description. Malumtene are runekar twisted by aetheric abuse. During a dark period in runekar history, some runekar turned to destructive magic, and a small group tried to wipe out every other species to purify the world. The runekar shunned them. Their dark rituals, which drew on forces from a dark realm, altered their very makeup, and the change passed to their descendants. Where a runekar sees a knot in the web and wonders how to retie it, a malumtene sees where to cut.

Personality. Malumtene grow up hated, and most learn early to trust no one. They keep the runekar's pride and sharpen it into ambition. Generations of being hunted have taught them patience, secrecy and a bleak sense of humor. Many malumtene hunger for power, as the stories say, but just as many want only to be left alone, and a few are determined to prove the stories wrong. All of them know exactly how much damage they could do, and every one of them has decided what to do about it.

Physical Description. Malumtene look like runekar, not humans, and anyone who knows runekar can see the resemblance: the same small build, long pointed ears and sharp features. They stand about 4 feet tall and weigh 35 to 70 pounds, but they are gaunter, with sharper bones and longer fingers, and some grow dark, claw-like nails. Their skin is grey or ash-white, and their hair is stark white or black, worn slicked back, shaved or tightly braided. Where a runekar has fine lines of aether light around the eyes, a malumtene's skin is cracked like old porcelain across the face, neck and body, and the aether bleeds through the cracks in red, blue and violet. Some carve runes into their foreheads. The surest signs are crimson eyes and the cracked, glowing markings on the face. Malumtene see well in darkness and squint in bright sunlight. They reach adulthood at about 70 and rarely live past 270.

Relations. Runekar shun the malumtene as a reminder of their own worst history. Humans fear them, and many believe malumtene would enslave humanity if not for the flux humans wield. Someone who looks malumtene can expect drawn swords, accusations of spying and blame for any aetheric disaster nearby. The Sons of the Throneless, the Veil and other outcasts are among the few who judge by deeds rather than blood. Malumtene and ashen are bitter rivals, each jealous of the other's power, and the exspiratis in the ashen trust malumtene even less than malumtene trust them.

Outlook. The stories say malumtene are monsters, and many have earned the name, but nothing in their blood requires it. Most are pragmatic survivors, loyal to their own kind first because no one else will have them. A life spent hiding leaves little room for anyone else's rules.

Malumtene Lands. The malumtene have no lands. Rumors speak of hidden enclaves in deep forest and abandoned mines, but most malumtene live alone or in small bands on the edges of human towns, keeping their hoods up and their eyes down.

Religion. Like all runekar, malumtene cannot wield flux. A few still seek out the forces from the dark realm that changed their ancestors, and those few are the reason the stories exist. Most malumtene believe in nothing but the web and their own skill.

Language. Malumtene speak Common and Runic. Their Runic is an old dialect full of terms for unmaking that modern runekar consider obscene.

Names. Malumtene names are harder and sharper than runekar names, and many take a second name to use among humans. Male names: Demengoth, Dungruth, Ghorjaern, Khelmuthar, Korrathurn, Tazoroth, Tyronthor, Volkrimm. Female names: Detkasha, Irteskra, Jheskera, Las'kethatria, Shaskreen, Shyl'ri, Tchentra, Viracesh.

Adventurers. A malumtene adventurer is usually an outcast: a mercenary who keeps a hood up, a scholar who can't study openly, or someone who has found a party willing to look past their eyes. Some seek the lost rituals of their ancestors. Others want to find out whether the dark realm that changed their people is still out there.

• +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma, –2 Strength, –2 Constitution. Malumtene are brilliant and forceful, but their twisted bodies are small and frail.

• Small: As a Small creature, a malumtene gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but must use smaller weapons than humans use, and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.

• Malumtene base land speed is 20 feet.

• Darkvision out to 60 feet.

• Light Sensitivity (Ex): Malumtene are dazzled in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.

• Aether Sight (Su): Like all runekar, a malumtene can see the aether web. As a standard action, a malumtene can gain the effects of detect magic for as long as they concentrate, up to 1 minute per character level, with no limit on how often they can use it. Aether Sight also reveals where the web has been altered by aetheric manipulation, though not what the alteration does.

• Rending Threads (Sp): A malumtene with a Charisma score of at least 10 can use darkness and shatter once per day each. Caster level equals the malumtene's character level. The save DC is 10 + spell level + the malumtene's Charisma modifier. Malumtene bend light out of the web and tear matter apart along its seams.

• Unmaker's Gift: Add +1 to the Difficulty Class of all saving throws against arcane evocation spells cast by a malumtene. Their ancestors' rituals taught the blood how to make the web violent.

• Dark Scholar: +2 racial bonus on Intimidate and Spellcraft checks.

• Weapon Familiarity: Malumtene are automatically proficient with the hand crossbow and the short sword.

• Blind to Flux: A malumtene cannot use flux. They can never cast divine spells from any source, and can never take levels in votary or warden, or in any prestige class that requires divine spellcasting. A malumtene ranger never gains spellcasting. A malumtene can still receive divine healing and other beneficial divine spells from others.

• Marked: –4 racial penalty on Diplomacy and Gather Information checks with humans and runekar who can see the malumtene's eyes and markings. Hiding them requires a successful Disguise check, or magic.

• Automatic Languages: Common and Runic. Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages).

• Favored Class: Aetherian. A multiclass malumtene's aetherian class does not count when determining whether they take an experience point penalty for multiclassing.

• Level Adjustment: +0.

Some runekar carry malumtene ancestry without the crimson eyes. They have the markings, the darkvision and some of the old talent, and no one trusts them either way. A mixed-blood malumtene loses Rending Threads and Light Sensitivity, and gains the following instead.

• Faded Mark: The Marked penalty is reduced to –2, and applies only when someone can see the markings on the face. A hood or a scarf is usually enough.

• Lesser Unmaking (Sp): Once per day, a mixed-blood malumtene with a Charisma score of at least 10 can use shatter, with caster level equal to their character level.

Many mixed-blood malumtene have the markings but not the eyes, and some insist they aren't malumtene at all. Those who can keep an aetheric illusion over their features in public.

Crimson Gaze

Prerequisite: Malumtene, Cha 13.

Benefit: You can use Intimidate to demoralize an opponent as a move action instead of a standard action. The opponent must be able to see your eyes.

Deepened Darkness

Prerequisite: Malumtene, Rending Threads racial trait.

Benefit: You can use your darkness spell-like ability three times per day instead of once. You can see normally through any darkness effect you created, as if it weren't there.

Machine Breaker

Prerequisite: Malumtene, ability to cast arcane spells.

Benefit: Your arcane spells that deal damage deal +1 point of damage per die to objects and constructs, including mechanoids, nibs and souldriven.

Sun-Hardened

Prerequisite: Malumtene.

Benefit: You lose the Light Sensitivity racial trait. Years among humans have taught your eyes to bear the day.

Thread Ripper

Prerequisite: Malumtene, Aether Sight racial trait, ability to cast dispel magic.

Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on dispel checks. When you counter an arcane spell, its caster is shaken for 1 round as the backlash tears through the web.

Unweaving Touch

Prerequisite: Malumtene, character level 3rd, Rending Threads racial trait.

Benefit: Three times per day, as a standard action, you can make a melee touch attack against an object or construct. On a hit, you deal 1d6 points of damage per two character levels (maximum 10d6), ignoring hardness. This has no effect on living creatures. The aether can't touch them.

Veiled Features

Prerequisite: Malumtene.

Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on Disguise checks made to pass as a runekar or a human. While your disguise holds, you take no penalty from the Marked racial trait.

Choosing a Class. The aetherian is the malumtene's favored class. Natural aetherians use Charisma, which also powers Rending Threads, and evocation patterns make the most of Unmaker's Gift. Runners and rangers use darkness, darkvision and the hand crossbow well. Fighters are rarer but effective, especially with Crimson Gaze. Divine classes are closed to malumtene.

Dark Practices. Malumtene work the same aether web as runekar, but where runekar tie threads, malumtene cut them: heat that sets wood alight from the inside, shockwaves, stone that splits along its grain, light pulled out of a room. The aether still can't touch living tissue, so a malumtene destroys the world around their enemies. Describe spells that way, and ask the Game Master which effects fit the aether's limits. See The Two Magics.

Living Hidden. Decide how your malumtene hides: a hood, a scarf, an aetheric illusion, a forged name. Decide who already knows. Being found out should be a story, not just a penalty.

Cruelty Is Optional. A malumtene character doesn't have to be cruel, and the most interesting ones aren't. The question every malumtene answers is what to do with a talent for destruction in a world that already expects the worst.