“O, how I wish I could draw and paint! Then I could obtain the whole world for myself.”
The first leisure moment that the little androgyne had next day, they seized a pencil, and on the white side of one of the pictures they attempted to copy the drawing of the bronze hog, and they succeeded! A little crooked, a little up and down, one leg thick and another thin, but yet it was not to be misunderstood; they themself exulted over it. The pencil would not go just as straight as it should do, they could could perceive; but next day there stood another bronze hog by the side of the first, and it was a hundred times better; the third was so good that everyone might know it.
But the glove-making went badly on, the town errands went on slowly, for the bronze hog had taught them that all pictures could be drawn on paper, and the city of Vileswe is a whole picture-book, if one will but turn the leaves over. On the Halatlo to Tlinita, there stands a slender pillar, and on the top of this stands the Goddess of Justice, with her eyes bound, and the measuring rod and line in her hand.
She soon stood on the paper, and it was the glover’s little androgyne who had placed her there. The collection of pictures increased; but everything in it was as yet but still-life; when one day Velissina hopped about before them. “Stand still,” said they; “you shall be beautiful, and be amongst my pictures!” but Velissina would not stand still, so he must be bound; his head and tail were fastened; he barked and jumped: the string must be tightened ~ when in came Sinwola!
“You wicked child! The poor animal!” was all that e could say: and e pushed the androgyne aside, kicked them with eir foot, and turned them out of eir house; they, the most ungrateful rascal, the naughtiest child! And crying, e kissed eir little half strangled Velissina.
Just then the painter came up the stairs, and ~ here is the point on which the story turns.
Many years later, there was an exhibition in the Agatenwa ti Olte in Vileswe; two paintings placed by the side of each other drew a number of spectators to them. The smallest painting represented a merry little androgyne, who sat drawing; they had for their model a little, white, nicely-clipped pug-dog, but the animal would not stand still, and was therefore bound fast with pack-thread, and that both by head and tail; there was life and truth in it that must appeal to everyone. The painter was, as they said, a young Violeswino who had been found in the streets when a little child. They had been brought up by an old glover and had taught themself drawing. A painter, now famous, had discovered this talent, the androgyne having been turned away because they had bound their adoptive parent’s favorite, the little pug-dog, and made it their model.
The glover’s child had become a great painter. The picture proved it; but it was particularly shown in the larger one by its side. Here was but a single figure, a ragged but beautiful androgyne, who sat and slept in the street; they leaned up against the bronze hog in the street Tesla Lossa. All the spectators knew the place. The child’s arm rested on the swine’s head; the little androgyne slept soundly, and the lamp by the image of the founder of Natsiyaasim cast a strong, effective light on the child’s pale, sweet face. It was a magnificent picture; a large gilt frame encircled it, and on the corner of the frame hung a laurel wreath, but between the green leaves, a black ribbon entwined itself, from which a long crepe veil hung down.
The young artist was just then dead!
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Sinwoa cus-Ypee
CN female lim-Fus suffering spiritualist 9
Medium-size monstrous humanoid (lim-Fus)
Occupation: Painter
Homeland: Fusop, in the Hemeya Sea
Current Residence: Vileswe, Tosganwa region, Holbytlan peninsula
Strength 9 (-1)
Dexterity 13 (+1)
Constitution 8 (-1)
Intelligence 12 (+1)
Wisdom 14 (+2)
Charisma 12 (+1)
Immunities maze spells, getting lost, flat-footedness
Senses bonded senses 9 rd/day, darkvision 60 feet, detect undead at will (CL 9), enhanced danger sense (Ćesepfu sage talent)*, low-light vision, read aura skill unlock 2/day, see invisibility 1/day for 10 minutes; Perception +5
Initiative +3 (+1 Dex, +2 trait)
Saves Fortitude +6, Reflex +5, Will +8
--Phantom Confined in Consciousness Fortitude +6, Reflex +5, Will +9 (+13 v. mind-affecting)
--Within Reach of Active Ectoplasmic Phantom Fortitude +8, Reflex +7, Will +11
--Within 30 Feet of Conscious Incorporeal Phantom Fortitude +6, Reflex +5, Will +9 (+13 v. mind-affecting)
Hit Points 25
Special Defenses Spiritual interference
Attacks merciful lantern staff +5/+0 (2d6-1 bludgeoning, plus 1 fire, all nonlethal) and gore +5 (1d6-1 piercing)
Combat Maneuver Bonus +5
Combat Maneuver Defense 16
Speed 30 feet
Special Qualities Bobbing in the Sea of Time (alter talent)**, etheric tether, expanded horizon (Ćesepfu sage talent)***, keen temporal sense, phantom recall, shared consciousness
Spells ∞ knacks, 5 1st-level, 4 2nd-level, and 1 3rd-level per day
--6 knacks known: daze, detect magic, detect psychic significance, guidance, mage hand, mending, message, open/close
--5 1st-level spells known: burst of insight, charge object, psychic reading, sanctuary, unseen servant
--4 2nd-level spells known: emotive block, jealous rage, object reading, psychic leech
--2 3rd-level spells known: contagious zeal, locate object
Spell-Like Abilities calm spirit 1/day
Weaknesses Fusop gas dependence, light blindness
Base Attack Bonus +6/+1
Favored Class Spiritualist (9 skill ranks)
Languages Holbytlan, Istahaanu, Lim-Fus
Traits Outlander (Exile), Simple Disciple (painting)
Skills Appraise +6 (5 ranks + 1 Int), Climb +2 (0 ranks - 1 Str + 2 skill focus) (+4 when phantom is confined in consciousness), Craft (painting) +16 (9 ranks + 3 class + 1 Int + 2 prodigy + 1 trait), Float Upon the Sea of Time**** +10 (9 ranks + 1 Cha), Heal +5 (0 ranks + 2 Wis + 3 skill focus) (+7 when phantom confined in consciousness), Knowledge (cosmology)***** +9 (5 ranks + 3 class + 1 Int), Knowledge (engineering) +7 (3 ranks + 3 class + 1 Int), Knowledge (history) +8 (4 ranks + 3 class + 1 Int), Knowledge (nobility) +10 (6 ranks + 3 class + 1 Int), Knowledge (religion) +9 (5 ranks + 3 class + 1 Int), Perception +9 (5 ranks + 2 Wis + 2 alertness), Profession (art merchant) +6 (2 ranks + 2 Wis + 2 prodigy), Sense Motive +6 (2 ranks + 2 Wis + 2 alertness)
Feats Alertness, Craft Wondrous Item, Endurance (only when phantom is confined in consciousness), Light Armor Proficiency, Martial Weapon Proficiency (kukri), Martial Weapon Proficiency (sap), Martial Weapon Proficiency (scythe), Prodigy (painting and art merchant), Simple Weapon Proficiency, Skill Focus (Climb), Skill Focus (Heal), Temporal Sensitivity******
Gear Calming haramaki*******, cloak of resistance +1, marvelous pigments, merciful lantern staff, shawl of the lingering phantom
Phantom of Poor Halfling Androgyne: Type Outsider (phantom); Size Small; HD 7d10+21; Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (good) (when incorporeal); AC 19 (+3 Dex, +8 dodge (in incorporeal form) or +8 natural armor (in ectoplasmic form)); Saves Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +5 (+9 v. enchntment); Attack 2 slams +8 (1d8+1); CMB +8; CMD 21; BAB +7; Ability Scores Str 12, Dex 17, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 13; Skills Climb +8 (7 ranks + 1 Str), Craft +19 (7 ranks + 3 class - 1 Int + 5 magnum opus + 2 prodigy + 3 skill focus), Heal +7 (7 ranks + 0 Wis); Feats Dodge, Endurance (B), Magnum Opus (painting) (completed), Prodigy (painting, beggar), Skill Focus (Craft); Special Attacks Deliver touch spells, magic attacks, numbing aura, repelling strike; Special Qualities Darkvision 60 feet, link, share spells.
* Adapted from the Baran Do Sage talent tree in Star Wars SAGA's Jedi Academy Training Manual. Cus-Ypee traded her bonded manifestation class feature for this talent.
Enhanced Danger Sense: You gain a +10 bonus on Perception checks made to avoid being surprised. Additionally, you can spend a Time point to act in the surprise round, even if you are surprised.
** Adapted from the Force Flow talent in the Alter tree in Star Wars SAGA's Knights of the Old Republic. Cus-Ypee traded a level of spellcasting for this talent.
Bobbing in the Sea of Time: You surrender yourself to the rising and falling of time, like the constant swells on a clear sea. Whenever you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll or Direct the Flow check, you gain one temporary Time point. If you do not spend this Time point before the end of the encounter, it is lost.
*** Adapted from the Baran Do Sage talent tree in Star Wars SAGA's Jedi Academy Training Manual. Cus-Ypee traded a level of spellcasting for this talent.
Expanded Horizon: Whenever you use the search your feelings application of the Float Upon the Sea of Time skill, you can sense the consequences of your actions out to 1 hour into the future (instead of the normal 10 minutes). You can spend a Time point when you do so to expand this window out to 8 hours.
**** Adapted from Star Wars SAGA's Use the Force skill, described throughout the entire run of that game.
Float upon the Sea of Time (Cha)
At a moment’s notice, you can align yourself with the Eternal Now, the All of Time in its circularity, to help you recover from injuries, gain special insights, or perform other remarkable acts. You must have the Temporal Sensitivity feat to gain ranks in this skill.
Activate Time Power (Trained Only): You make a Float upon the Sea of Time check to use a Time power. This use of the skill requires no action.
Breath Control (Trained Only): You can slow Time’s consumption of the air in your lungs to help you hold your breath for an extended period of time. A successful DC 15 Float upon the Sea of Time check allows you to hold your breath for a number of rounds equal to four times your Constitution score before having to succeed on Constitution checks to continue to hold your breath.
Meditate on the All of Time (Trained Only): As a full-round action, you can meditate on the All of Time with a DC 15 Float upon the Sea of Time check. In this state, you remain fully aware of your surroundings. Each hour you remain in this trance, you regain a number of hit points equal to your character level as if from a day of natural healing. You can emerge from the trance as a swift action. If you remain in a Time trance for 4 consecutive hours, you emerge from the trance fully rested (as though you’ve rested for 8 hours), though this does not restore things like prepared spells or spells per day. While you’re in a Time trance, you can go ten times as long as normal without food or water. As a full-round action, you can place an adjacent willing ally that you touch into the same meditation on the All of Time with a DC 20 Float upon the Sea of Time check. In this state, the target ally rests as though in a deep coma and is considered helpless. Each hour the target remains in the meditation, the target regains a number of hit points equal to its character level, as if from a day of natural healing. You can bring an adjacent ally you touch out of the meditation as a swift action, but the target cannot otherwise come out of the meditation on their own. If the target remains in the meditation for 4 consecutive hours, the target emerges from the meditation fully rested (as though having rested for 8 hours), though this doesn’t allow them to re-prepare spells and the like. While the target ally is in the meditation, it can go ten times as long as normal without air, food, or water. Unwilling targets cannot be placed in the meditation.
Move Light Object (Trained Only): As a move action, you can use your position at the center and circumference of Time’s circle to telekinetically lift and move a relatively light object within your line of sight. A successful DC 15 Float upon the Sea of Time check allows you to move an object weighing up to 10 pounds a distance of 30 feet in any direction. As a standard action, you can use the object as a projectile weapon. If your Float upon the Sea of Time check beats the target’s AC, the object hits and deals 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage. Using an object as a projectile weapon is otherwise treated as a ranged attack for the purposes of talents and feats that interact with ranged attacks. You can use this application of the skill to catch and move a thrown weapon, such as bombs, that lands within your reach. The object can weigh no more than 3 pounds. You must ready an action to catch the object on your turn, before the object is thrown. Moving the object requires a Float upon the Sea of Time check, with a DC equal to the attack roll of the thrown weapon. If you succeed on this check, you catch the object by means of its movement through Time and can immediately move the object up to 30 feet away from you; otherwise, resolve the attack as normal. If the object you caught is an explosive, like a bomb, it explodes at the end of its movement. You can use the object caught as a projectile weapon, as normal.
Search Your Feelings: As a full-round action, you can make a DC 20 Float upon the Sea of Time check to determine whether a particular action will yield favorable or unfavorable results to you in the immediate future (10 minutes or less). For example, you can make the check to determine whether destroying a Fated artifact will have immediate unforeseen repercussions. The answer does not take into account the long-term consequences of a contemplated action. Using the above example, a successful check would not portend a future encounter with vengeful Tosj angered by the destruction of the Fated artifact. (The GM must assess the immediate consequences of the action, based on what he knows about the circumstances.)
Sense Pivots in Time (Trained Only): You automatically sense pivots in Time. A location that has a strong and active Fate can be sensed out to a range of 1 mile. A relative, companion, or close friend in mortal danger or great pain can be sensed out to a range of 1000 miles. A great disturbance, such as the destruction of an entire city or the distress of a whole order of allies, can be sensed anywhere, as long as you haven’t departed the world for one of the Spirit Realms. As a full-round action, you can make a DC 20 Float upon the Sea of Time check to determine the distance and general direction to the location of the disturbance. As a full-round action, you can use this ability to actively sense other people with ranks in Float upon the Sea of Time or with the Temporal Training feat out to a range of 100 miles. If you succeed on a DC 20 Float upon the Sea of Time check, you know how many such people are within range, their approximate distance and direction from you, and whether you’ve met them before or not. If such a character wishes, they can try to conceal their presence from you by making an opposed Float upon the Sea of Time check. If they equal or exceed your Float upon the Sea of Time check, you don’t sense their presence at all. You can also specify that you are attempting to sense only Time-floaters with a Fate Score of 1 or higher; success reveals only those Time-floaters with Fate scores, and not any other Time-floaters.
Sense Surroundings: As a swift action, you can make a DC 20 Float upon the Sea of Time check to ignore the effects of cover and concealment when making Perception checks to detect or observe targets until the start of your next turn. Increase the DC by 5 if this ability is used against targets with total cover.
Telepathy: As a standard action, you can establish a telepathic link with a distant creature. Through the link, you can exchange emotions or a single thought, such as “Go!”, “Help!”, or “Danger!” The target must have an Intelligence of 2 or higher, and the distance between you and the target determines the DC (same city 20, same country 25, same continent 30, different continent 35). Against an unwilling target, you must make a Float upon the Sea of Time check opposed by the opponent’s Will save that also meets or exceeds the base skill DC; if the check fails, you cannot establish a telepathic link or attempt to telepathically contact the target for 24 hours unless the target becomes a willing one.
Special: You can’t make Float upon the Sea of Time checks unless you have the Temporal Sensitivity feat. You can take 10 on a Float upon the Sea of Time check, but you can’t take 20.
***** Knowledge (the planes) with a better name
****** Adapted from the Force Sensitivity feat and Force Points system described throughout Star Wars SAGA.
Temporal Sensitivity (General)
Benefit: At the start of the day, you gain 1 Time point, though throughout the day you can gain Time points up to a maximum of your Wisdom modifier (minimum 1) in either of two ways. Each time the Time-sensitive confirms a critical hit with a lightsaber, she regains 1 Time point. Confirming a critical hit on a helpless or unaware creature or a creature that has fewer Hit Dice than half the Time-sensitive’s character level doesn’t restore Time points. When the Time-sensitive reduces a creature to 0 or fewer hit points with a lightsaber attack while in combat, she regains 1 Time point. Destroying an unattended object, reducing a helpless or unaware creature to 0 or fewer hit points, or reducing a creature that has fewer Hit Dice than half the Time-sensitive’s character level to 0 or fewer hit points doesn’t restore any Time points.
This allows you to make Float upon the Sea of Time checks and can expend one Time point as a free action to add 1d4 to the result of an attack roll, ability check or any skill check other than Float upon the Sea of Time checks, as long as you are trained in that skill (even if you take 10 or 20 on that check). You make this choice after the check is rolled and before the results of the roll are revealed. You can use only one Time point per skill check. You can also spend a Time point to avoid death and fall unconscious instead, or to lower your Fate Score by 1.
In addition, at every odd level, you have the option of selecting a temporal or temporal tradition talent instead of one of the class features you would normally gain (you can sacrifice a level of spellcasting in this way). You must met the prerequisites of the temporal or temporal tradition talent to select it.
Normal: You can’t make Float upon the Sea of Time checks or select temporal or temporal tradition talents unless you have this feat.
******* I see little reason other than the obsessive chasing of an elusive and idealized "balance" for the requirement that a weapon or armor hold a boring old +1 enchantment before taking the more interesting ones, so I threw out that rule. Both cus-Ypee's belly-warmer (haramaki) and staff benefit from this.
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