DRYH: The Raven King

The Raven King is an alternative pre-industrial imagining of the Mad City for the Don't Rest Your Head RPG (Fred Hicks/Evil Hat). This is the Mad City that was before the Mad City that is. Or one of them, anyway. For those familiar with the Mad City that is, some of the Nightmares and Quarters of the city will be recognizable for what they will one day become, but younger, less refined versions of themselves. Some will feel utterly alien, Nightmares at the height of their power, Quarters as solid as bulwarks in the Mad City that was - but no longer known powers or places in the Mad City that is.

HOUSE RULES

Below are some supplemental rules that I use when running Don't Rest Your Head games in the Raven King setting. Otherwise refer to the rules as written in the Don't Rest Your Head core book. Page numbers listed below are for the core book.

The Call of the Awakened [pp 2]

When a sleeper Awakens his presence is felt and known by the major Nightmares of the Mad city. They become aware of the Awake. This is somewhat more specifically defined in the Raven King setting. Boss Nightmares can sense (but not precisely pinpoint) an Awake from anywhere within the Mad City (even if the Awake is in the City Slumbering). Lieutenants can typically sense (but not precisely pinpoint) the Awake within their own Quarter of the Mad City, and Minions can sense them only when actually confronting the Awake.

As an act of will [no dice rolled] any Awakened can deliberately call out to the Nightmares of the Mad City, briefly revealing their exact location. Individual Nightmares will choose to respond in different ways, with distance usually being the primary factor in a given response. Local minions almost always find themselves drawn to an Awake's call. Other Nightmares on the prowl in the Quarter might also be drawn. Few will be drawn from without the Quarter unless they have a means of immediately appearing. Such as the Bard, the Fool, or the Raven King. But all of these would need good reason to stir themselves for a mere Awakened.

First Scar [pp 11; 71-72]

What Just Happened To You? - The Raven King setting can be a touch more brutal than the default setting for Don't Rest Your Head, and the players' introductions will reflect this. Question 2 of the Five Questions addresses what 'just' happened to the character before the start of gameplay. In The Raven King it will also be the character's first Scar, functioning exactly as scars function in the rules-as-written. So the scene you come up with should be compelling. Something your character can draw on later for strength, insight, transformation, or even redemption from relentless exhaustion.

Helping [pp 24-25]

Discipline Cap - The rules-as-written allow any character to lend their 3 discipline dice to the main protagonist's roll, affecting the total number of successes but not the strength of the roll. In the Raven King setting, the total number of donated discipline dice cannot exceed the the combined number of Exhaustion and Madness dice in the main protagonist's pool for that roll (the main protagonist's discipline dice are not counted against this comparison, only donated dice). So if the main protagonist has two exhaustion dice in his pool and three madness dice the most discipline dice he is able to make use of from other players would be five. Individual characters are still limited by their total number of discipline dice as to what they can individually contribute.

As per the rules-as-written, anyone who helps is subject to the consequences if Pain, Madness, or Discipline dominate.

Coins of Despair - When Pain dominates, the GM gains a Coin of Despair for each protagonist participating in the action. [Note: This hack is primarily in place to escalate the coin currency and ensure the players end up with enough Coins of Hope to keep their characters from prematurely teetering over the edge].

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NIGHTMARES BY QUARTER

In the time of the Raven King, the Mad City is divided into Quarters, and each Quarter is Ruled by a major Nightmare and its various lieutenants and minions. The following section describes each region and details those who might be encountered there, their Pain ratings, and any special talents they might have.

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The Black Keep

Though not a Quarter in its own right, the Black Keep is where the Raven King holds court. Towering out of the center of the Mad City, the Black Keep is an impressive edifice of primitive majesty. Jagged blades of black obsidian stretch towards the night sky and reflect strange stars. No windows adorn the outer surface of the Keep. No gates or doors offer entrance.

The Black Keep and the Thirteenth Hour: At each of the twelve hours of the watch, the obsidian towers of the Black Keep resonate with the haunting echoes of ghostly bells that can be heard in every quarter. Until the Thirteenth Hour. At the Thirteenth Hour the bell rings clear. Thirteen chimes. And the Black Keep fades from the City, replaced by the Black Cathedral until the first hour rings again and ghostly echoes announce the return of the Raven King's Keep.

It is rumored that the Raven King is unable to walk the Mad City during the Thirteenth Hour, but must spend it locked away in his Keep until the Cathedral again fades.

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The Raven King - Pain 12 (15 using Voice or Portals)

The Raven King confines himself to no Quarter. The whole of the Mad City is his domain, and he rules it with a ruthless passivity that is unfathomable. At a distance, the Raven King is seen as the silhouette of a tall, gaunt man swathed in robes of blackness and starlight, and from the vast cowl of his vestments the silhouette of a great black beak can be seen jutting forth. Until he approaches or allows himself to be approached. At that point the great black beak will pull away, revealing itself to be the dripping blade of a great scythe in scarred bone hands, his revealed face a bare human skull, bleached white within the black robes, with venomous green flames flickering in the empty eye sockets.

Only from his throne in the Black Keep does he wear his full Raven visage where all can see. The gaunt fingers that clutch the arms of that throne are covered in black feathers and end in vicious black talons.

The Raven King only rarely approaches or allows the approach of the Awakened, and he never speaks with them directly. It is said his very voice is death to mortal ears [Pain 15]. Instead he watches from afar, interacting only through his lieutenants and minions. If pressed, the Raven King can open portals anywhere within the Mad City that open at any other location(s) he chooses within the Mad City [Pain 15 to force a creature into the portal unwilling].

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The Raven King's Court

The following Nightmares answer to the Raven King directly and faithfully. If the Raven King is holding Court within the Quarter of the Black Keep, they will typically all be present, but otherwise might be found anywhere within the Mad City unless their description indicates otherwise. Some of the Court have a different Pain rating within the Quarters and within the Black Keep itself.

The Fool - Pain 5 (7 within the Keep)

The Fool is a thin androgynous figure in black and white motley and an oval mask, half black, half white with only a bare rectangular slit for each eye and the mouth. Like many of the Raven King's court the Fool does not speak, but can communicate quite fluidly through pantomime. In certain light, with certain movements, the observer would swear the Fool to be a lean young man under that mask, while in other light with certain other movements, the observer would be equally certain the mask hides a slim young girl.

The Fool is the Raven King's primary means of communicating directly with the Awake when he wishes, though the Fool will often set forth on its own agenda.

While at the Black Keep the Fool is often seen juggling fire, dancing, tumbling, performing pratfalls, and otherwise amusing the court, but by all accounts the Fool is the Raven King's chief adviser.

The Castellan - Pain 4

The Castellan never leaves the Black Keep, so only has one pain rating, but he only rarely faces anyone on his own, able to call Doorkeepers to his side with but a word. The Castellan is responsible for the Black Keep itself, its running, its defense, its upkeep, and the needs of its Lord and its Guests.

The Castellan himself appears as a stocky man in a smart black uniform of military cut, practical and severe. His face is swarthy and dark. So is his other face. And the third one too. Each face is strong and severe and set side by side in a triangle around his head. He has no beards, nor hair, nor ears, though he seems able to hear just fine.

He controls access to the rooms and corridors of the Black Keep absolutely.

Unlike most of the rest of the Court, the Castellan speaks just fine. Deferentially to his betters and special Guests. Barked orders to most others.

The Doorkeepers - Pain 5 (per pair)

Like the Castellan, the doorkeepers never leave the keep and they always appear in pairs (Pain 5 is for the pair of them) and if defeated will vanish in pairs. Guests of the Keep will typically see only two Doorkeepers at any given time, standing one on each side of the nearest door, in black chain mail and tabard, bearing a black pike with a sharp, curved blade at its tip. Each Guest will perceive each Doorkeeper's face as identical to their own. Long observation will show that the Doorkeepers never move away from their doors. They do not traverse hallways or move into the rooms they guard. They can, however, use any doorway as a portal to any other doorway within the Black Keep.

Only when attacked by a Guest or summoned by the Castellan do they move into a room or hallway to fight. Otherwise, their only function seems to be to stand aflank their particular doorway or in front of it, pikes crossed, barring entry.

Doorkeepers never speak.

The Willow Women - Pain 1

The Willow Women also answer to the Castellan. They are the maids, cooks, and servants of the Black Keep. Lithe and flexible and tall, the Willow Women are fair skinned with extremely long limbs and hands and feet and toes and fingers and their hair drops down all about them in a curtain of fine pale braids, like the hanging branches of the willow tree, hiding their faces and most of their form. The Willow Women will not willingly move aside their braids and look directly on a Guest of the Black Keep and tend to keep their heads down and their faces hidden, but if a guest were to part those pale braids, stark black eyes with no color or whites would stare back. Anyone caught in that naked gaze faces Pain 6 in a confrontation that cannot be avoided. In this special encounter all 6s rolled for Pain count towards Madness instead when determining dominance.

Not only do the Willow Women never speak, they have no mouths to do so.

Special: The Willow Women typically do not engage in conflict, but if defeated they (each) add one madness die to the character's next roll, whatever that roll may be, at which time the Willow Woman passes from existence forever. This die does not count against the total madness dice allowed to a character, but any madness dice that come up six during that roll count as two sixes for the purpose of determining strength. Further, any madness dice in the pool when the Willow Women were defeated do not fall off until the end of the next roll.

If other characters added dice to help the main protagonist defeat the Willow Women they share his fate on the subsequent roll as well.

The Chainforger - Pain 8

Rarely seen, the Chainforger seems to double as the Black Keep's Gaoler and Armorer. Fleshless, the Chainforger is made entirely of intermeshed and interlocking plates and chains of blackest iron. Human in shape, the Chainforger is faceless, but eyes of every shape and color wink from within every link of chain in and on his body.

Guests who catch a glimpse of the Chainforger are probably already bound for his special care.

Legend has it that if one were to peel back the great iron plate over his heart a pair of Raven eyes would stare back.

Though the Chainforger shares the Court's general moratorium against speech, when he wishes to communicate, he can make his voice heard in anyone's mind like rust being scraped off of old iron. Pain 2 to communicate in this fashion. It cannot be blocked out.

The Eyeless

The Eyeless Occupy the cells beneath the Black Keep. They are denizens of the Mad City, rather than actual Nightmares, and so have no Pain rating, but in their own ways can cause trouble if they think it will inch them closer to freedom. As their name implies, these men and women have no eyes, but sallow amber flames flicker in their empty eye sockets.

The Huntsman - Pain 5 (2 within the Keep)

The Huntsman is the one member of the Raven King's Court who is considerably more powerful outside the keep than he is within. Inside the Black Keep, the Huntsman is little more than a glorified kennel master. But out in the Quarters he Hunts with the Raven King's own authority.

Clad in tough fighting leathers and loose cowl, the scent of old blood clings to the Huntsman. His face jutting from the cowl is the bare white skull of a great wolf with an eerie blue flame dancing in the empty sockets - a flame that drifts closer to red as the Huntsman closes with his prey.

Despite his appearance, the Huntsman can and does speak, though usually only to his Hounds.

The Huntsman only hunts on the order of the Raven King, sending his Death Hounds out ahead of him, but keeping two at his flanks at all times outside the Keep.

Special:Out in the Quarters, the Huntsman has a terrible reputation. Minion level Nightmares, excepting his own Death Hounds, will avoid the Huntsman, fleeing from his presence for dear life. Lieutenant level Nightmares not of the Raven King's court will viciously and immediately attack him on sight. When being attacked by other Nightmares, the Huntsman's Pain increases by 2 + 1 for each additional Nightmare beyond the first to a maximum Pain rating of 12. If a Boss level Nightmare attacks the Huntsman, he will blow his Horn to summon the Raven King.

The Huntsman's Horn

The Huntsman bears a great hollow ram's horn which he can blow to summon the Raven King. He will only do so under conditions set by the Raven King. It is rumored that his ability to add pain against other Nightmares comes from this Artifact.

Death Hounds - Pain 2 (4 when Tracking)

Large and lanky dogs, pale and furless with bare skulls for heads, the Death Hounds are usually found hunting at the Huntsman's behest, running ahead of him to bring his prey to ground (tracking Pain 4) or at his flanks as guardians(Pain 2). Like the Huntsman, their eye sockets glow a cold blue until they near their intended prey, then they begin to glow violet, and ultimately crimson as they close with their prey. Like the Huntsman, the scent of old blood clings to them.

When in sight of their prey the Death Hounds will howl, summoning the Huntsman.

Death Hounds don't always hunt with or for the Huntsman, however. Packs of them can be found roaming the quarters, their eye sockets empty of light, though the smell of old blood still clings to them.

Special: Feral Death Hounds (those not of the Huntsman's pack), when defeated can be sent to interfere with the Huntsman's Hounds actively out on the hunt until the following chime of the Hour.

The Headsman - Pain 6 (8 during a sanctioned Execution)

The Headsman is the Raven King's Executioner. When specifically fulfilling his office add 2 to his Pain rating.

Clad in black with a great halberd, the Headsman towers over the tallest men. And has no head of his own. This doesn't seem to keep him from hearing or seeing just fine, but like many of the Raven King's Court, he does not speak.

The Headsman is almost exclusively encountered at the Raven King's shoulder awaiting an order of execution.

Inklings Pain 1 (3 within the Keep)

Hands in the dark, the Inklings of the Black Keep answer to the Headsman, holding his prey in place for the axe. Made of shadow, inklings resemble children in form but with huge hands and feet and great grinning maws full of shadowy teeth. Inklings are three dimensional in form, but being made of the stuff of shadow they are somewhat translucent, except for the inside of their mouths beyond their shadowy teeth. That is black as never.

Silent as death, Inklings are never seen in the Black Keep except when called for an execution, but they are everywhere, watching from the shadows and acting as the Raven King's eyes.

It is without the Black Keep that Inklings are most to be feared. Though weaker in the Quarters than they are within the Keep, they are utterly invisible in the shadows and when they attack they attack in swarms. They do have to leave the shadows to attack, however. Their hands have no grip and their teeth have no bite if their bodies are in shadow.

Only during the Thirteenth hour are Inklings truly vulnerable, taking on the form of mute children wandering derelict. During the Thirteenth Hour an Inkling's Pain drops to zero and they are treated as mere denizens of the Mad City.

Special: If defeated, an Inkling's shadowy substance may be consumed by any of the Awake who will take on the shadowy properties of the Inkling, unseen and unfelt until the chime of Thirteenth Hour. The Awake have no access to their Discipline dice while the Inkling effect remains in place.

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The Black Cathedral

The Black Cathedral is an odd edifice of towering narrow spires rising up from a foundation shaped like an equilateral cross, but the spires and towers all lean in towards the center, giving it the appearance of a rough pyramid of skyward straining icicles of hewn black stone, cleverly fitted and shaped with a gigantic iron bell hung from chains high over the Cathedral's center. Each arm of the cross ends in a wall pierced by a high Gothic arch. But only one of those archways looks into the Cathedral itself. The other three, respectively, look into a high and empty night sky, void of stars or clouds; a raging ocean, grey with storm and monstrous waves; and an endless realm of magma and fire that casts no light but can be seen.

The fourth arch leads into the Cathedral itself, in the center of which is a towering oak tree, from which a bearded naked giant of a man hangs, his left foot nailed to the trunk. His arms are bound behind his back and his right leg is tucked behind the left in an inverted figure 4. A spear pierces the man's liver and his throat has been slit. His silver eyes stare at all who come through the door with intelligence, compassion, and no small touch of madness.

From within the Cathedral the Open Arch looks out on the Mad City. The Arch of Night looks out on a blazing sun. The Arch of Storm looks out on a barren burning desert. And the Arch of Fire looks out on a windswept glacier, blinding white with no horizon.

The Black Cathedral and the Thriteenth Hour: The Black Cathedral only occupies its place in the center of the Mad City during the Thirteenth Hour. At the end of that hour, it fades from existence again, replaced by the Black Keep of the Raven King until the Thirteenth Hour chimes again. Characters inside the Black Cathedral when it vanishes are deposited outside the Raven King's Keep in the Mad City.

The Cathedral Bell: The great iron bell that hangs over the heart of the Black Cathedral rings every hour, even when the Cathedral is not within the Mad City, its chimes heard in the ghostly echo of the towers of the Black Keep from the first hour through the twelfth. When the Cathedral returns with the striking of the Thirteenth Hour, the Bell peals madly through the whole of the city, clear and pure and violent.

The Slain God - Pain 9 (+ special)

The Slain God hangs from his tree and answers the Questions of those who come to him. From the denizens of the Mad City he takes what they have to give. Cherished memories, ideas, songs. He offers them no pain. Despite his own considerable torment.

Nightmares attempting to enter the Black Cathedral who are not sworn to the Cathedral find themselves flung away before they can cross the threshold.

The Awake are always allowed entrance, and may seek answer to a single question, but they must face pain, exhaustion or madness to receive word from the Slain God. If they fail this test they may ask again. The question must be the same. But each asking raises the Slain God's Pain rating by 1 (to a maximum of 12).

Special: A failed contest with the Slain God always results in both a Coin of Hope and a Coin of Despair.

Option: At any stage, the character can take one permanent Madness die and get his answer without having to roll a contest. The character Snaps. All his Responses reset, and he acts out his madness for (at least) the remainder of the scene. If this Option is taken, no Coins of Hope or Despair are generated.

The Cathedral Gargoyles - Pain 4

Draped about the upper reaches of the Cathedral without and within are black stone Gargoyles that do the Slain God's bidding during the Thirteenth Hour, acting as spies, messengers, and flying transport to bring those the Slain God would summon.

The Blood Acolytes - Pain 1

In appearance, Blood Acolytes are young boys in black cassocks cinched in plain black rope with brows and hands scarred and dripping fresh blood, their bare feet marring the black stone floor with bloody footprints. Chanting a constant droning plainsong, the Acolytes serve the Slain God as needed. Bringing him fruit and water. Ushering guests into his presence. Ushering them away.

No one has ever seen a Blood Acolyte outside the Black Cathedral.

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Rattown Wharf

Rattown Wharf is a jumbled shanty town of taverns, shipwright shops, and low slung warehouses clustered on the edge of the black sluggish harbor upon which the Mad City is built. Ships of questionable seaworthiness come and go, loading and unloading even more questionable cargo in the hours of eternal night.

Just beyond the docks and piers and jetties the bones of sunken vessels make passage out into the deep all but impossible, but somehow the tattered ships make it in and out of that jagged labyrinth, though only their captains and crew might have any idea how.

Not even for the Thirteenth Hour does activity in Rattown abate.

The Catspaw - Pain 4

Slinking humanoid figures with feline heads, tails, and claws, the Catspaw serve as both the law and the chief gang of Rattown. They collect protection from the locals and hassle transients from other Quarters for tolls of passage through their tattered fiefdom. On the other hand, they mercilessly root out any other criminal element in the Wharf and will fight of encroaching Nightmares and Awake alike if they feel they are a threat.

The Barnacle Boys - Pain 2 (6 when being Skinned)

Vaguely shaped like small boys but covered head to toe in thousands of living barnacles, the Barnacle Boys hang out on the docks and piers and jetties collecting information for the Catspaw and the Night Callers alike, as well as for any Awake that can pay their price.

When crouched down against a piling or the base of a dock or storefront, Barnacle Boys all but look like a bit of crumbling foundation. They are also very agile and adept, able to use their bony growths to quickly shimmy up pilings and walls to the rooftops of the Wharf and even up to the Spires above the Canals.

Special: The barnacled hides of Barnacle Boys are worth much in trade to certain factions within the Bizarre Bazaar. It should be noted, that removing a Barnacle Boy's hide is the only way to actually kill it, so they tend to be alive and screaming throughout the process. Pain 6 to skin one.

The Drowned - Pain 1

The dripping, salt crusted corpses of those taken by the deep, the Drowned serve as stevedores and longshoremen on the Wharf, mindlessly ignoring everything but their given tasks. At need, however, they will immediately take orders from any Catspaw, and will even follow the directions of Barnacle Boys if there are enough of them to physically herd the Drowned in the requested task.

The Siren - Pain 5 (8 in Maelstrom form)

Out beyond the bones of broken vessels the Siren lurks unseen, singing her hauntingly beautiful melodies, soft and lost in the fog until the Thirteenth Hour when they drift clear and compelling into the Mad City. It is said that the Siren, always taking on the appearance of a ghostly white figure of mist in the shape of a slim young girl, can only be approached during the Thirteenth Hour. She will not attack those who approach unless they ask her a question. If she is defeated she will answer that question, though she is not as forgiving of defeat as the Slain God.

Once she gives her answer, the Siren sinks below the surface of the water to become the sucking whirlpool of the Maelstrom (Pain 8) which must be escaped to return to shore.

If the Siren wins the initial contest, she sinks into waters without unleashing the Maelstrom.

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The Canals

The Canals are a labyrinth of waterways that crisscross the seaward side of the Mad City beneath the towering skyground of the Spires. Walkways flank the waterways and arched bridges frequently span them even as dark stone stairs lead down to the flat inky surface of the Canals themselves.

While the Canals themselves are considered a Quarter on their own, the buildings, bridges, and walkways above cross and interconnect multiple minor Quarters, most notably the Spires.They also run hard against the Hammerwall and the Tower of the Moon

The Faceless Gondolier - Pain 4

Gondola is the preferred conveyance for passengers and cargo through the Canals, a task usually handled by the Drowned of Rattown. Nevertheless, a single towering Nightmare can be seen poling through the mists in a blood red Gondola. Clad in heavy robes and broad brimmed hat the color of ash, his face is featureless and blank, he has no mouth, no nose, no ears, no eyes, not even sockets, but he can speak in whispers in the minds of those he encounters, and for a price take passengers to any Quarter touched by the canals - even if the Canals do not normally offer access to the Quarter they touch. Passengers of the Faceless step from his red gondola into the new Quarter seamlessly.

Though the Gondolier has a relatively moderate Pain rating and has never been known to enter into conflict with any of the Awakened, it is said he is the only Nightmare that the Huntsman (and his Hounds) will openly flee.

Red River Pole: The river pole the Faceless Gondolier uses to propel his vessel is as red as the craft itself and in a confrontation the Gondolier wields it as a bo staff. The staff adds no Pain to his base rating, but it is said to be able to shatter exposed bone and stone alike - even in a failed confrontation.

Wisps - Pain 1

Drifting above the pitch black water tiny greenish wisps of light bob about, slowly following the brackish currents of the Canals. Wisps always remain below the level of the walkways and follow no discernible pattern in their travels. Wisps can be harnessed by the Call of the Awakened [no dice roll required] and will go for a time in the direction(s) indicated by the Awakened who called to it within the Wisps' self imposed boundaries within the Canals. [Forcing a Wisp beyond these boundaries snuffs it out].

Special: The waters of the Canals ground the Call of the Awakened. Their exact location is revealed only to the Wisps (and perhaps the Faceless Gondolier). Other Nightmares will only sense the Awakened as somewhere within the Canals.

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The Bizarre Bazaar

The Bizarre Bazaar is an Aladdinesque jumble of cloth booths and tents and spread carpets and blankets offering all manner of exotic things for trade. Rather than being it's own Quarter, pieces of the Bazaar can be found in every Quarter of the Mad City (except the Black Keep and the Black Cathedral). Once in the Bazaar, characters remain within the confines of the whole Bazaar and will not wander out of those confines until they actively decide to do so. It is anybody's guess which Quarter they will find themselves in upon exiting.

Nearly any goods or services can be found within the Bazaar if the Price can be paid. It is thought that the Bizarre Bazaar is the only constant feature throughout all the ages of the Mad City.

[For more information on common details of the Bazaar, see pp 49-50 of Don't Rest Your Head ignoring any reference to the Wax King's coins as he has not yet manifested as a Power in the Mad City during the time of the Raven King].

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The Spires

Towering above the Canals and the Labyrinth both, the broken, jagged skyline stabs at the night. There are few flat surfaces among the Spires, but they are nearly as heavily populated as the City Below and shadowy figures can be seen everywhere scrambling and hanging from the sharply slanted roofs, canted chimneys, and twisted balconies, hurling themselves across ways that would be impossibly broad below, but are narrow and easily crossed above.

[The Rooftop Jungle/Paper Boys pp 57-58 of Don't Rest Your Head and Out in the Nowheres pp 62-64 of Don't Rest Your Head is good background reading for this Quarter and it's Nightmares].

The Black Bard Pain 3 (5 when Playing)

Master of the Spires, the Black Bard is a rogue clad in close fitting leathers with a long, long hood pulled up on his head and trailing down his back that flares out behind him as he runs. His lean face is rough with stubble and a wicked slash of a smile, but his eyes and nose and brow are covered by a mocking mask of black boiled leather in the visage of a raven in open mockery of the Raven King. On his back he carries a fine lute of black wood worked with silver.

The Black Bard is a Nightmare of Nostalgia and dreams. With a word or a song, he can cause you to recall something precious from your past, whether real or in a dream, and he can steal it from you. The Black Bard's Pain rating goes up if he gets a chance to play his Lute while he sings.

Special: All the memories stolen by the Black Bard collect in his Lute. If defeated the Bard can be forced to return a single specific memory - an Awakened's own, or another's. The one who defeats him must demand the memory to receive it and must allow the Black Bard to play the lute as the means of retrieving that memory. Once imparted the memory is indistinguishable from the character's own memeories.

The Nightling Gale

Brutal Black Wind

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Labyrinth and Catacombs

The Guardian

minotaur