HEROES   ⟩   ORIGINS

The Empire of Mazr

Tel-Kanan    Shinar

Mazr is—was—a powerful magical empire located beyond Tel-Kanan’s cyclone. Its  envoys, soldiers, artisans, traders, and tax collectors are common sights in larger Kananite settlements. Mazrians speak their own language and are extremely easy to spot in a crowd.

With its fleet of skyremes and advanced magical technology, Mazr has long controlled transport between Tel-Kanan’s islands and dominated its people. Until recently, that is. The empire of Mazr has collapsed—a fate that the people of Tel-Kanan are only just becoming aware of. 

Playing a Mazrian

You have the head of an animal. You’re an ordinary-looking human otherwise. Mazrians are born with human heads; they choose an animal that represents their nature on their fourth birthday and are submerged in the dreamriver, the vast filament of magical freshwater that flows out of the Chaos and snakes between the Empire's floating cities. The energies of the dreamriver cause the child to undergo an irreversible magical transformation, and they emerge with an animal head. 

Your animal head has benefits, but comes with a big drawback: many Kananites will try to waylay, capture or kill you once they learn the powerful empire behind your back has collapsed. 

You start with the following features:

Ask the Guide:

Farsight  

If you have maneuver advantage on a ranged attack, your ranged attack penalty is reduced by 1. Possible animals: falcon, hawk, owl.

Keen Senses  

When a character attempts to hide from you, treat their roll as suffering a -2 penalty (applied only to you). Possible animals: cat, jackal, oryx.

Jaws  

You bite. Your Take hold attack inflicts lethal damage on a success, up to your Strength +1. (Most Mazrians view people who use this ability as uncouth at best.) Possible animals: capybara, crocodile, hippopotamus, snake.

Mazrian Names

Pick one: Ahmose, Ammeris, Bunefer, Djoser, Imhotep, Khafre, Menwi, Merneptah, Nakht, Necho, Osorkon, Pipi, Ramesses, Sabu, Satiah, Senneferi, Shoshenq, Sinuhe, Tey, Tia, Wazad

Or invent your own. You may draw inspiration from the names of ancient Egyptians, the main culture that inspired the Mazrian origin.

Mazrian Keepsakes

Choose or roll once or twice from the table, or invent your own.

Questions for Mazrians

Use these questions to flesh out your background, either by choosing answers you like, rolling randomly, or inventing your own answers. 

Tel-Kanan    Shinar