The Zmajeviti
[a cloud split into two by lightning]
There is a storm in the horizon. The darkness falls upon the people. The shadows of the clouds cover the fields, hinting about the coming destruction. Distant thunder is heard through the night, and the flashes of light tear through he sky. It is still distant- but the winds start to blow. Soon, it would engulf the people, bringing fear and destruction as the ala would feast upon the chaos. Left unchecked, and life would be lost- the storm would come, and devour all.
But then, they come- going out of their caves, making their way out of their forest, locking themselves in their churches and pray. They know the danger, and they can help their people. They close their eyes and invoke the image of their enemies- the darkness of the ala and their endless hunger. They close their eyes and invoke their own image- one hidden beyond their mortal flesh and blood, image of great power which strikes fear even in the disastrous demons. The image of the dragon, the storm wardens, the only ones who can fight against those monsters as equal and scare them away. In their minds, they leave their mortal coil and fly- gathering the winds under their wings and roar like thunder, breathing lightning. Their flawless skin is covered with scales hard as diamonds, their claws are sharp like swords. They fly into the storm, into the danger, into the heart of darkness where the ala hides. Lightnings burn through the air as the two fight, thunder covers their screams. Mists and rain and hail are carried by the winds, beings used as darts by the lords of storm. It is a long battle- but in the end, the sun breaks through the clouds. The storm is gone- and the zmajeviti, the dragon people, open their eyes, knowing another terror was defeated and that their people is safe once more- until the coming of the next storm.
The storms wardens are an ancient line, coming from the old lands of the Serbs. They claim to be as old as their people- an ancient bloodline descendant from the union of mortal women and great serpentine beings which could only be named as "dragons". Each of them was marked from birth as a child of the dragon, having a caul over their heads at birth, or were born at a certain hour of the day, or had webbed fingers or small wings. Then signs may have changed, but there was one thing in common- they were marked at birth as the children of the dragons, meant to fight the devious ala and their dangerous storms.
While most common people thought about their role as wardens against real storms, the truth was a bit more complicated- the storms they fought against weren't just a roaring mass of clouds and rain. They were storms of the mind, devouring souls in their endless hunger and scarring thousands in their pass. The ala lived the the heart of those storms, causing a whirlwind of madness around them as they roamed the dreams of innocent mortals. Only the dragons had enough power to fight those demons as equal- taking flight into the depths of the chaos and fighting the monsters of their own terms.
At the early days, the Storm Guard was scattered through the region, broken into many small (sometimes even competing) groups. As such, they got many names through the ages- Zmajeviti in the south, vetrovnjak on the west, Zduhaci on the east. They were called as planetniks in Poland, Dragoi in Albania, kombals in Croatia. They spread through the Balkans and even a beyond it- but wherever they went, they were no more then a few, unrelated compacts.
The fall of Constantinople has changed everything.
For years, the strains of the dragon men has survived through an uneasy alliance with another, more powerful bloodline, which claimed themselves to be punishers of the wicked. The alliance was founded since the days the forefathers of the Zmajeviti has reached the Balkan after the fall of the Roman Empire, and broke down as its last remain was destroyed by the Ottoman Empire. As the Ottoman eventually reached their lands and brought down the once proud Serbian Empire (the last sanctuary of the so called "Tartaruchi"), came another cursed strain- one holding sharp knives and riding upon black winds. On the other side, a new bloodline has started its own purge against their former allies- and the dragon people were the next in their list. As independent groups, they didn't had a chance- but together, they could survive, even if it meant to escape their former lands and search for a new home, one where they could be safe from their enemies.
And they found it in the lands who would soon become the great Tsardom of Russia.
Seeing how their former allies fell from grace, the Zmajeviti saw it as their duty to take their place as the guardians of the east. In the Tsardom, they took a new name for themselves- the Burya Storozh- in order to forget their fractured past and begin anew. However, unlike the fallen children of the Furies, the storm guard didn't bound itself to the higher classes- they were the people of the fields, guardians of the simple people and wardens of weather. Some of them found their place as priests and monks in the Russian Orthodox Church- and when the so called "Old Believers" broke apart from the Church, those dragon people among them left with them, moving toward Lithuania and the Baltic lands to escape persecutions. Still, a considerate amount of storm guardians stayed in the empire, hunting for the hidden terrors of the night and banished their storms from the world.
The time of the Soviet Union was, undoubtedly, the hardest era for the Storozh- under Stalin's reign, fear has spread in the heart of every man, causing storms to appear and luring the ala from their hideouts- not to mention the more mundane threats, as many of the dragon people were marked as potential threats to the Union by both mundane and supernatural agencies. Yet, Russia is a big place, and the Storozh knew where to hide- sending their souls through space and time to fight their old enemies- and after its fall, the guard returned with all of its might. Tonight, the Burya Storozh maintains its grip through the vast Russian lands and beyond it, from the European Balkans and up to the northern regions of Asia. Their communities are strong knit, living in rural places in order to keep their deep connection to the land. In their dreams, their eldest meet and discuss the course of the conspiracy and the current threats they need to deal with. On the world of flesh, they hunt for the storm bringers and the aloviti they give birth to with their terror. They descend into the depths of the storm, bringing hope that the sun would rise.
Fear is the true killer of souls- and faith is your sword and shield while fighting it.
And no form symbolize that faith better than the might of the dragon.
Status:
0- you have showed you are mature enough to start hunting for the ala and fight against the storms. You can buy dots in the Snovideniye Endowment, and can expect to live up to 170 years.
000- you have flew through terrible storms and banished both the demons who lurk in them and the aloviti who hunt them for selfish goals, forging your willpower through battle. You get +2 modifier for all meditative rolls. You now have the potential to live up to 350 years.
00000- you had you share of battles, and your legend has spread through the conspiracy. You get 3 dot Staff at your disposal for the Vigil, and could potentially reach 600 years.
Endowment- Snovideniye (0-00000)
The dragon people see their true form in their dreams, and by dreaming it into truth they can attack the ala in their own realms. Snovideniye is a single, 1-5 merit which allows the character to project herself into the world of storms (also known as the Primordial Dream) and breach into a Beast's Lair. In order to do so, the hunter must preform a meditative roll to which she adds her Endowment to dicepool, but reducing the Beast's Lair rating. A Failure drains the character from a single Willpower point, while Dramatic Failure also force the Shaken Condition upon her. Exceptional Success, however, also grants her a Willpower point.
In case the projection was successful, the hunter takes her "true form" in the Beast's Lair. It is usually the form of a dragon, but some variants do occur. While in this form, each dot in the Endowment is treated as the Dream Avatar Merit. In an addition, for each dot in the Endowment choose one Atavism. The hunter may use that Atavism while in her "dragon form". She may spend Willpower as if it was Satiety, and treats her Willpower points as Satiety in order to determine if she may access the "Low Satiety" effect. In case the character is killer in the dream, roll for Resolve+Stamina. In case of failure, she suffer one level of Bashing Damage per dot in the Endowment. In case of Dramatic Failure, she suffers from one level per the Beast's Lair or her Endowment, what which is higher.
[a cloud split into two by lightning]
There is a storm in the horizon. The darkness falls upon the people. The shadows of the clouds cover the fields, hinting about the coming destruction. Distant thunder is heard through the night, and the flashes of light tear through he sky. It is still distant- but the winds start to blow. Soon, it would engulf the people, bringing fear and destruction as the ala would feast upon the chaos. Left unchecked, and life would be lost- the storm would come, and devour all.
But then, they come- going out of their caves, making their way out of their forest, locking themselves in their churches and pray. They know the danger, and they can help their people. They close their eyes and invoke the image of their enemies- the darkness of the ala and their endless hunger. They close their eyes and invoke their own image- one hidden beyond their mortal flesh and blood, image of great power which strikes fear even in the disastrous demons. The image of the dragon, the storm wardens, the only ones who can fight against those monsters as equal and scare them away. In their minds, they leave their mortal coil and fly- gathering the winds under their wings and roar like thunder, breathing lightning. Their flawless skin is covered with scales hard as diamonds, their claws are sharp like swords. They fly into the storm, into the danger, into the heart of darkness where the ala hides. Lightnings burn through the air as the two fight, thunder covers their screams. Mists and rain and hail are carried by the winds, beings used as darts by the lords of storm. It is a long battle- but in the end, the sun breaks through the clouds. The storm is gone- and the zmajeviti, the dragon people, open their eyes, knowing another terror was defeated and that their people is safe once more- until the coming of the next storm.
The storms wardens are an ancient line, coming from the old lands of the Serbs. They claim to be as old as their people- an ancient bloodline descendant from the union of mortal women and great serpentine beings which could only be named as "dragons". Each of them was marked from birth as a child of the dragon, having a caul over their heads at birth, or were born at a certain hour of the day, or had webbed fingers or small wings. Then signs may have changed, but there was one thing in common- they were marked at birth as the children of the dragons, meant to fight the devious ala and their dangerous storms.
While most common people thought about their role as wardens against real storms, the truth was a bit more complicated- the storms they fought against weren't just a roaring mass of clouds and rain. They were storms of the mind, devouring souls in their endless hunger and scarring thousands in their pass. The ala lived the the heart of those storms, causing a whirlwind of madness around them as they roamed the dreams of innocent mortals. Only the dragons had enough power to fight those demons as equal- taking flight into the depths of the chaos and fighting the monsters of their own terms.
At the early days, the Storm Guard was scattered through the region, broken into many small (sometimes even competing) groups. As such, they got many names through the ages- Zmajeviti in the south, vetrovnjak on the west, Zduhaci on the east. They were called as planetniks in Poland, Dragoi in Albania, kombals in Croatia. They spread through the Balkans and even a beyond it- but wherever they went, they were no more then a few, unrelated compacts.
The fall of Constantinople has changed everything.
For years, the strains of the dragon men has survived through an uneasy alliance with another, more powerful bloodline, which claimed themselves to be punishers of the wicked. The alliance was founded since the days the forefathers of the Zmajeviti has reached the Balkan after the fall of the Roman Empire, and broke down as its last remain was destroyed by the Ottoman Empire. As the Ottoman eventually reached their lands and brought down the once proud Serbian Empire (the last sanctuary of the so called "Tartaruchi"), came another cursed strain- one holding sharp knives and riding upon black winds. On the other side, a new bloodline has started its own purge against their former allies- and the dragon people were the next in their list. As independent groups, they didn't had a chance- but together, they could survive, even if it meant to escape their former lands and search for a new home, one where they could be safe from their enemies.
And they found it in the lands who would soon become the great Tsardom of Russia.
Seeing how their former allies fell from grace, the Zmajeviti saw it as their duty to take their place as the guardians of the east. In the Tsardom, they took a new name for themselves- the Burya Storozh- in order to forget their fractured past and begin anew. However, unlike the fallen children of the Furies, the storm guard didn't bound itself to the higher classes- they were the people of the fields, guardians of the simple people and wardens of weather. Some of them found their place as priests and monks in the Russian Orthodox Church- and when the so called "Old Believers" broke apart from the Church, those dragon people among them left with them, moving toward Lithuania and the Baltic lands to escape persecutions. Still, a considerate amount of storm guardians stayed in the empire, hunting for the hidden terrors of the night and banished their storms from the world.
The time of the Soviet Union was, undoubtedly, the hardest era for the Storozh- under Stalin's reign, fear has spread in the heart of every man, causing storms to appear and luring the ala from their hideouts- not to mention the more mundane threats, as many of the dragon people were marked as potential threats to the Union by both mundane and supernatural agencies. Yet, Russia is a big place, and the Storozh knew where to hide- sending their souls through space and time to fight their old enemies- and after its fall, the guard returned with all of its might. Tonight, the Burya Storozh maintains its grip through the vast Russian lands and beyond it, from the European Balkans and up to the northern regions of Asia. Their communities are strong knit, living in rural places in order to keep their deep connection to the land. In their dreams, their eldest meet and discuss the course of the conspiracy and the current threats they need to deal with. On the world of flesh, they hunt for the storm bringers and the aloviti they give birth to with their terror. They descend into the depths of the storm, bringing hope that the sun would rise.
Fear is the true killer of souls- and faith is your sword and shield while fighting it.
And no form symbolize that faith better than the might of the dragon.
Status:
0- you have showed you are mature enough to start hunting for the ala and fight against the storms. You can buy dots in the Snovideniye Endowment, and can expect to live up to 170 years.
000- you have flew through terrible storms and banished both the demons who lurk in them and the aloviti who hunt them for selfish goals, forging your willpower through battle. You get +2 modifier for all meditative rolls. You now have the potential to live up to 350 years.
00000- you had you share of battles, and your legend has spread through the conspiracy. You get 3 dot Staff at your disposal for the Vigil, and could potentially reach 600 years.
Endowment- Snovideniye (0-00000)
The dragon people see their true form in their dreams, and by dreaming it into truth they can attack the ala in their own realms. Snovideniye is a single, 1-5 merit which allows the character to project herself into the world of storms (also known as the Primordial Dream) and breach into a Beast's Lair. In order to do so, the hunter must preform a meditative roll to which she adds her Endowment to dicepool, but reducing the Beast's Lair rating. A Failure drains the character from a single Willpower point, while Dramatic Failure also force the Shaken Condition upon her. Exceptional Success, however, also grants her a Willpower point.
In case the projection was successful, the hunter takes her "true form" in the Beast's Lair. It is usually the form of a dragon, but some variants do occur. While in this form, each dot in the Endowment is treated as the Dream Avatar Merit. In an addition, for each dot in the Endowment choose one Atavism. The hunter may use that Atavism while in her "dragon form". She may spend Willpower as if it was Satiety, and treats her Willpower points as Satiety in order to determine if she may access the "Low Satiety" effect. In case the character is killer in the dream, roll for Resolve+Stamina. In case of failure, she suffer one level of Bashing Damage per dot in the Endowment. In case of Dramatic Failure, she suffers from one level per the Beast's Lair or her Endowment, what which is higher.
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