Swan Mays


The Swan Mays are an ancient sisterhood of humans with the ability to turn into swans by donning feathered cloaks. They are dedicated to the preservation and defense of the wild places of the world and the innocent folk who live there. Many Swan Mays are warriors, mages or both.

The power of the Swan May is threefold. There is a genetic component - a Swan May must be the daughter of a Swan May. Next, she must be wearing her cloak of feathers. Many of the cloaks are very ancient, passed down from mother to daughter for countless generations. The secret of maintaining, repairing and (presumably) creating the cloaks is a closely-guarded secret of the oldest and most powerful Swan Mays. Finally, there is a moral and cultural part to the Swan May's power. Each Swan May is raised to honor nature and defend the innocent, and if they fail in this duty through cowardice, greed or carelessness, they will lose their powers. (Repentance might be possible, at the GM's option, but it would certainly require a long and dangerous service to regain a lost transformation power.)

Though deadly when their charges are threatened, most of the time Swan Mays are beautiful and merry. It is part of a Swan May's duty to her kind to eventually marry an honorable man and produce a daughter to carry on the legacy. They are greatly sought after as wives, and many of the noblest houses have Swan May blood. But they cannot be bought or coerced to wed. A Swan May marries only at her pleasure, and only for love.

Even in war, Swan Mays usually go unarmored. Their usual gear includes a plain, light shift, a bow and a few arrows or a light spear, and a knife. They do not like to be encumbered with more than can be absorbed in their change.

Swan May Example: Opal

Opal is a young and frightfully naive Swan May, still in her teens. Her father, a soldier, died before she was born, and her mother was killed by wolves when Opal was 13, so for the last five years she's lived by herself in the wilderness. She's done all right in that time, but the combination of her solitary existence and the lack of paternal guidance have made her a bit less skilled, and a good deal less polished, than is normal for a Swan May of her age. Her lack of human companionship has made her shy and guileless - she has only the vaguest concept of a "lie." However, her long independence also makes her resentful of those who seem to be more accomplished or civilized than herself.

She often flies to the nearest village (some 20 miles from her hut) where she perches on a roof and watches the village girls, with their finery and boyfriends, in envy. A couple of times a year, she comes to town to trade for essentials like salt, or a new garment and sandals. In addition to what she finds for trade, she has a small cache of valuable coins, inherited from her mother, hidden in her home.

She's made a hobby of the study of the wildflowers that grow in the forest. Her other pastime is playing practical jokes on the occasional hunter that ventures into her territory. Some of her pranks have been quite terrifying, and the woods around her home are gaining a reputation as a haunted place.

Human Form:
All Swan Mays have a gadget-based Were Form advantage, with the enhancement Absorptive Change (No Encumbrance), for a base cost of 11 points. The gadget modifiers for their cloaks of feathers are Awkward, Can Be Stolen by Stealth or Trickery and Unique, for a final modifier of -40%. This makes the final cost of the cloak 7 points. Swan May cloaks are usable only by their owners, but may be transferred from mother to daughter.

Swan Form:
The swan template is as follows: ST 6 [-30], DX 12 [20], IQ 4 [-50], HT 13 [30]. Advantages are PD +1 [25], DR +1 [3], Appearance: Attractive [5], Penetrating Call [5], Peripheral Vision [15], Striker: Beak (1 hex range) [20] and Winged Flight [30]. Disadvantages are -4 Hit Points [-20], Mute [-25] and No Fine Manipulators [-30]. Swans have Brawling-12 [1], Flight-12 [2] and Swimming-12 [2]. The swan template cost is 3 points. For the were-form of a Swan May, IQ must be brought back up [+50].

Both forms must take Duty (defend the forests, find a worthy husband, raise a daughter to take your place) [-10], and Code of Honor (Respect nature, defend the defenseless) [-10].The base character point total of a Swan May's were-form is 33 points. The final point total of the were-form receives a -40% discount from the gadget modifiers.

Opal is a 100-point character. Her DX is shared points between her two forms.

Opal, human form

Pale skinned, age 18, 5'11", 135 lbs., blond hair, green eyes.

ST: 10 [0] Move/Speed: 6 (6.25)
DX: 12 [shared] Dodge: 6
IQ: 10 [0] Parry: 7
HT: 13 [30] Damage: Thrust: 1d-2; Swing: 1d Point Total: 65

Advantages:
Animal Empathy [5]
Appearance: Beautiful [15]
Combat Reflexes [15]
Swan-feather Cloak (Were Form gadget) [7]

Disadvantages:
Code of Honor (Respect nature, defend the defenseless, -10]
Duty (defend the forests, find a worthy husband, raise a daughter to take your place, -10]
Impulsiveness [-10]
Jealousy (extra disadvantage, no bonus)
Poverty: Struggling [-10]
Shyness (mild) (extra disadvantage, no bonus)
Truthfulness (extra disadvantage, no bonus)

Skills:
Area Knowledge (Home forest and environs)-12 [2]
Bow-13 [8]
Climbing-12 [2]
Knife-13 [2]
Naturalist-11 [4]
Stealth-12 [2]
Survival (Forest)-10 [1]
Swimming-12 [1)
Tracking-11 [2]
Veterinary-13 [1]

Quirks:
In awe of village girls
Plays pranks on hunters
Dislikes dogs
Studies wildflowers
Imagines she's a princess

Opal, swan form
ST: 9 [20] Move (land/air): 6/12 Speed: 6.25
DX: 12 [shared] Dodge: 7 (13 flying)
IQ: 11 [60] Parry: 7 PD/DR: 1/1
HT: 13/6 [0] Damage: Thrust: 1d-2; Swing: 1d-1
Point Total: 15 (25 minus 40% gadget discount)

Advantage:
Swan template (3 points, less shared points in DX)

Disadvantages:
Code of Honor (Respect nature, defend the defenseless, -10]
Duty (defend the forests, find a worthy husband, raise a daughter to take your place, -10]
Impulsiveness [-10]
Poverty: Struggling [-10]
Shyness (mild) (extra disadvantage, no bonus)

Skills:
Area Knowledge (Home forest and environs)-12 [2]
Brawling-12 [0]
Flight-12 [0]
Survival (Forest)-14 [8]
Swimming-12 [0]

Quirks:
In awe of village girls
Plays pranks on hunters
Dislikes dogs

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